Till Death Do Them Parting
by StoryboardMortician
Summary: Love is stronger than death even though it can't stop death from happening, but no matter how hard death tries it can't separate people from love. It can't take away our memories either. In the end, love is stronger than death.
1. The End To 'Just Friends'

**Authors Note: I do not own InuYasha or any of the other characters in this story (unfortunately).**

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******Ch. 1**

**_The End to 'Just Friends'_**

"I see how it is…" a teenage girl with long black hair said as she crossed her arms and blinked away the tears that were forming in her stunningly beautiful, bright emerald eyes.

"No you don't, you don't understand Lyn!" replied a boy with bright tawny eyes that had a look of confusion and hurt. He sighed as he ran his clawed hands through a thick mane of ashen hair and paused briefly to scratch one of the slender white dog ears that protruded from atop that mane.

"I understand just fine. It's over…" the young girl said as she brushed a strand of raven black hair from her soft, milky white face.

"No!! That's not what I meant!" the boy said as he grabbed her hand as she got up to leave.

"Then what did you mean? You said we can't be friends anymore," the young girl said as she pulled her hand from his grip and stood there. She stared intently into his eyes, trying to understand what he was saying.

"Yeah, but in a totally different way!" the boy said as he stood up quickly and gave her a look of complete desperation. He frowned slightly and sighed as he dropped his head in frustration.

"What other way is there InuYasha? I mean, I don't seem to know any another way," she said as she sat in the spot that he just been and put her head in her delicate white hands.

"We're only friends right?" he said as he turned towards her and got down on his knees. He grabbed her hands gently and raised her chin so that he was looking into her sparkling, clear eyes. He smiled sadly as he looked into her eyes and placed a hand on her cheek.

"Yeah, I know, but not anymore," she said softly as she diverted her eyes away from his, but never moved her head. She secretly liked having him touch her because she loved the feeling of his long claws brushing against her face.

"No, just let me explain. Please," he said as she turned her eyes back towards his. She saw that he meant to tell her something, but his usual shy, anti-social side was preventing him from doing so.

"Fine, I want to hear your excuse," she said as she pulled her hands from his and crossed her arms. She looked at him with a fake scowl on her face. She knew he didn't know the difference and that's what she was aiming for.

"I don't want us to be friends anymore, I want us to be more…" he said softly as he looked away from her and dropped the hand on her cheek as he rose up from his kneeling position. He stood looking at her for a moment before he just dropped down onto the couch next to her and rested his head against the back of the couch. He closed his amber eyes and frowned slightly. He took a deep breath and held it, hoping he could gather the courage to tell her what she needed, no, what _**He** _needed to hear himself say.

"Are you saying what I think you are?" she said as her scowl disappeared and her hands fell to her lap as she looked at him most curiously. She had always thought he had been more than friendly for the last year.

"Depends on what your thinking…" he said softly as he felt himself blushing. He knew that she knew what he meant and it relieved him yet made him more uncomfortable.

"How come you didn't just tell me that in the first place?" she said happily as she clasped her hands together and smiled, lighting up her soft and beautiful face. She tucked her knees under her body as she turned toward him and moved her face rather close to his. He looked at her and felt fairly ashamed.

"I wasn't sure if you felt the same…" he said as he lowered his head and looked at his clawed hands. He could still feel her eyes piercing him and he felt a bit embarrassed as he felt himself begin to blush again. But this time the blush was deeper as he felt her breath on his face and smelled her overpowering, lovely scent fill his nostrils.

"Of course I do!!! I want us to be more than friends. I _Want _to be your girlfriend!" she nearly squealed in delight as she clasped her hands together in front her mouth. He looked at her and gave her an awkward smile as he titled his head to one side, kind of the way puppies do when there're curious.

"You do? All right! Well, then shouldn't we go out or something?" he asked as he moved closer to her so that she could lean against his shoulder. She softly breathed in his scent and felt at peace.

"Sure. How 'bout a movie?" she said as she closed her eyes, She nuzzled closer to him and he put his arm around her. She felt him rest his head on hers and a small smile broke the calm of her face. She had waited for this day ever since she was 8 years old and saw him for the first time.

***Flashback***

"8, 9 ,10! Ready or not! Here I come!" a young, no more than 8 year old Lyn said as she uncovered her eyes and went off in search of her friends. Her long black hair bounced and fluttered with her movements as she snuck around her yard.

"Are you over here?!" she said as she looked behind her families sacred oak tree. As she looked back up, she heard the other children taunting someone.

"What are you guys doing? I thought we were playing hide-and-go-seek?" she asked a young girl who stood in the back of a crowd that had formed. The girl turned towards her and shrugged slightly.

"We were, but then we found some freak and we were just having some fun. Why don't you join us Lyn?" the young girl said, but as Lyn heard the terrified yelp of a hurt animal, she shoved her way to the front and saw two young boys kicking another young boy. There was something different about him though. He had long, white hair and what seemed like dog ears, and with every kick, he yelped like a hurt puppy. It broke her heart every time they did this and soon she couldn't take it anymore.

"What are you guys doing?!" Lyn said and at the sound of her voice, the two boys stopped what they were doing. When they did, the dog boy looked up at her with golden eyes and as she looked into those eyes, her heart seemed to skip a beat. She didn't know what it was, but a strange and knew sensation built up in her stomach as she looked at him.

"Go! Leave him alone! I said go!" and as she moved toward them, they took off and so did the other kids. She watched them all run off and made sure the were all gone before she turned back toward the hurt dog boy that made her stomach flutter.

"It's OK little guy, I'm not gonna hurt you. Cross my heart and hope to die," she said as she moved toward him and he moved back. But as those words escaped her lips and her small, soft hand touched his face, he smiled and that smile melted her heart.

"Thanks. My names InuYasha. You?" he said softly as she helped him up and brushed him off. As she brushed him off she had the overwhelming urge to never take her hands off of him.

"Oh, my names Lyn. Lyn Runeris," she said, blushing like mad. She looked down and clasped her hands together shyly behind her back. She started to rub the toe of her black converse into the dirt nervously when she felt him staring at her. When she looked up she saw he had a small grin on his face.

"It's nice to meet you Lyn. Are we friends now?" he asked. She looked up at him quickly and he looked into her green eyes curiously. She wanted to scream yes, but she gained her composure and smiled fiercely.

"Yes! We'll be best friends forever InuYasha!" she said happily and he smiled as she grabbed his hand. She blushed even harder as they walked back to her house hand and hand.

***End Flashback***

"Sounds good," he said smiling, revealing his sharp, white teeth. She looked up a him and thought about how interesting it would be to run her tongue across those sharp white points.

"Oh, um, how about we wait 'till tomorrow night, that way you can look human?" she said with a innocent smile. He turned towards her so suddenly that her head fell off his shoulder and she fell sideways into his lap.

"How'd you know about my human form?" he said with a surprised expression plastered on his face. He looked down at her and blushed madly when he realized that she had landed face down in his crotch. She got up quickly, but not to quickly of course, and shrugged.

"Meoga told me awhile ago," she said looking at him innocently. She remembered asking the flea where InuYasha disappeared to on the days of a full moon and that's when he told her. She had known for almost 5 years now and as she noticed that he looked a little apprehensive, she was a bit puzzled about it.

"Know ones supposed to know about that! Your not gonna tell anyone are you?" he said as he looked at her with an anxious expression on his face. She was a bit taken back by this but she just gave him a small smile and nodded in understanding. Even if she didn't know why he was being so sneaky about it, she knew this wasn't the time to ask. She didn't want to stress him out and ruin the moment even more.

"Of course not InuYasha! Your such a numskull," she laughed as she went over and started to rub his left ear making him close his eyes and sigh in pleasure. He rested his head in her lap as she continued to massage his ear and as she looked down at him, she felt something she had forgotten she could. She felt truly **_happy_**.


	2. Spoken Words to be Forgotten

**Author's Note: I still do not own InuYasha or any other characters. Though I wish I did. He would look so cute in a pink, sparkly dog collar ^-^. Oh, and this chapter may include some horizontal mombo.**

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**Ch. 2**

_**Spoken Words to be Forgotten**_

"_**Watch out**_!" someone screamed suddenly.

"What?" cried a tall, handsome teen boy with long raven hair pulled back in a ponytail. His dark, chocolate brown eyes could have melted any girls heart. As he spun around though, he saw why they had screamed at him.

"No!" the sound of screeching tires drowned out the screams of the girl across the street. As she watched the car slam into him, she was glued to the spot and everything seemed to be thrown into slow motion. She saw the car hit him, causing him to hit the windshield, shatter it, and then roll over the top of the car and slam into the pavement on the other side. As he rolled off the car a feeling of numbness flooded her entire body and she was pulled out of her slow motion paralysis. She ran to his side and fell to her knees next to his oddly bent and bloody body.

"Lyn...I'm sorry…" the boy said as he smiled up at her and coughed, causing blood to spew all over her white shirt. She was at his side and grabbed his hand in hers, holding it against her breast.

"No, it wasn't your fault InuYasha. Now be quite and save your strength so you can heal yourself," she whispered to him as tears began to fall and a crowd began to form around them. Her tears fell onto his blood and dirt streaked face leaving small stains.

"Not…in this form. I guess we should…have gone yesterday…" he said with a pained smile as she lifted his head into her arms and cradled him, her head resting on his shattered shoulder. He tried to move his arm so that he could run his fingers through he hair, but he couldn't feel it. He then realized he couldn't feel any part of his body anymore.

"Lyn...I…love you…" he said softly into her ear. His eyes were slowly losing their spark but they still smiled as he said it.

"InuYasha...I..." she said as she raised her head. Her eyes were full of shock and surprise at the words he had just uttered. He just gave her a sad smile as his eyes closed and the world became dark.

"_**InuYasha**_! No…" she cried as she sobbed over his broken body. She still held his head against he breast but with her free hand she punched the pavement, cracking it slightly.

* * *

"Mom? Is that you?" came his voice from somewhere in the silvery mist. He knew he had died, but wasn't quite sure whether this was heaven, hell, or some sort of purgatory. He also wondered why his mother, if that was his mother, was also here."

Yes it is son…" said a tall woman with long black hair and chocolate eyes as she stepped clearly into his view. He looked at her for a few seconds before the full force of the situation hit him.

"Wow, I really am dead…" he said as he dropped his head. His feelings were torn. He wasn't so sure if he was to ok with being dead.

"What is wrong son? Are you not happy to see me?" his mother asked him as she clasped her hands together within the sleeves of her green silk kimono. She knew full well that he was and she also knew what was causing him so much internal pain. Whether he knew the reason or not was quite a different story.

"I am happy to see you mother, really," he said, looking up, his eyes shining with unspilled emotion. He just blinked them away and stood tall with a sad, stoic expression on his face. As she saw him standing there, she felt like she was seeing his father.

"I see son. You must go to her then," his mother said bowing to him slightly, but never breaking eye contact.

"What? No mom! How did you know…? That's not…" he rambled, shocked that she would say such a thing for he did not remember that he had said he loved Lyn before he died.

"You cannot hide anything from me InuYasha, even if you hide it from yourself. You shall remember all in time," his mother said as she gave him a sad smile. She stood straight up and removed her hands from her kimono and placed them on his bare shoulders. She didn't want to let him go for she knew what would go back to Lyn. She knew she had to though. This was a test she knew he must take if he was to do what he was destined to do.

"...mom, I…" he just looked at her, still stunned at her words. She smiled and bent towards him, whispering something in his ear. As she did this, he felt himself being jerked away and it was soon dark once again.

* * *

"InuYasha, I miss you," Lyn whispered as she walked to the shrine at which his body lay and knelt beside it.

"May the gods watch over your soul. May you be happy when you are reunited with your parents…" she whispered as she clasped her shaking hands together and put them to her forehead and tried to pray. She could no longer control herself though as she jumped up onto his shrine bed. She threw her arms around his cold neck and wept. It had been almost two weeks since he had died and his body still laid, forever still, in a private shrine on her families' property. His skin was still soft to the touch and a bit of his scent still lingered, even in death. She breathed it in and let fresh tears fall onto his cold, pale skin.

"Why InuYasha? I need you now more than ever…" she whispered into his unhearing ear.

"Lyn…" a voice called from nowhere. "Who said that?" she said as she raised her head and looked around. She was completely alone with the exception of InuYasha who lay unmoving beneath her embrace.

"Lyn…" the voice whispered once again. It seemed so close and it scared her.

"Who's there? Please stop that…" she said as tears of fear began to well up in her eyes. She released her grip on InuYasha and sat up, looking around.

"Lyn…" came the taunting whisper once more. This time she stood up and looked down at InuYasha and then turned around and tried to see who was there with her.

"Stop please…" she said softly as the tears began to fall once more. She turned back towards him and slowly began to walk backwards away from his body when she tripped on the stairs.

"Lyn…" the voice whispered once more. This time she didn't care who it was, she just wanted to leave.

"_**Stop**_!" she cried out as she jumped up and slammed her hands over her ears. As she turned to run out, something grabbed the chain of her wallet, causing her to nearly fall over backwards.

"_**Eeepp**_!" she yelped as she began to cry and dropped to her knees. She squeezed her eyes shut against the tears and moaned in fright.

"Lyn, please don't cry," the voice said softly from behind her. Her eyes shot open and she gasped as she finally realized who it was.

"InuYasha?" she whispered as she turned around to see his bright golden eyes smiling at her. He saw her mouth drop open slightly and he thought she looked rather dumbstruck.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," he said with an innocent smile, but there was something different about him. His eyes seemed sinister and unusual, but she paid no attention to this.

"_**InuYasha**_!" she cried out as she grabbed him around his neck and wept in relief.

"Lyn...I missed you so much," he said as calmly. As he hugged her back though, a most ominous grin formed on his lips, and his golden eyes flashed red, if only for a moment.

"And that's how I made it back," InuYasha said as he finished explaining how he had managed to make it back, minus the part where his mom said that he wanted to go back because of her. This part still puzzled him though. Every time he thought about what his mom said, this weird sensation swept over him. It was though something deep inside him was fighting to gain entrance into his mind.

"I'm just grateful your mom was so thoughtful," Lyn said as she sipped her tea. As she stared into his eyes, her gaze, without warning, drifted down to his bare chest. She never noticed how very tone he was. Slowly, her eyes wandered to the V his well shaped abs made, which disappeared under the cloth he had draped over him.

"What are you staring at Lyn?" he asked curiously. He turned his head and followed her gaze and when he realized where her gaze trailed off to, he smiled mischievously.

"I wasn't staring at anything! I don't know what your talking about," she squeaked out in surprise. She looked him in the eyes and she knew that he had seen her gazing at him.

"Sure…" he said as propped himself up onto one elbow, purposely making the cloth covering him slide down even more. She saw this and began to blush. Sensing his gaze on her, she turned her head and looked into his burning amber eyes.

"You know Lyn, you're very beautiful," he said as took his free hand and ran his claws gently across her face.

"Thanks," she said as she blushed even greater, but still looked him in the eyes.

"Ummm, InuYasha…" she said as she finally lowered her eyes down to her hands. She took a deep breath and looked back up at him. His eyes seemed to pierce her and it sent shivers of pleasure, but of slight warning, through her. Something in her, whether it was her intuition or not, was telling her that all was not right with him.

"Yes Lyn?" he said as he intentionally moved closer to her. They were almost nose to nose and he could hear her heart beating rapidly. He smiled roguishly to himself because he knew what she wanted.

"Before you, died, you said you...loved me. Do you?" she said, still gazing wontedly into his eyes. He was a bit taken back by this question, but he rapidly regained his inner composure and told her what he knew she wanted to hear.

"...yes, yes I do Lyn," he was now nose to nose with her. He didn't remember saying it, yet, the words just came off his tongue so smoothly, he couldn't stop himself. Neither did he want to stop himself. He knew what he was doing, and he knew what he wanted and nothing would stop him from getting it.

"I...I love you too InuYasha," she said as she leaned in and kissed him. He pulled her closer to him so that she was know on top of him. He could feel her push against him and he knew she wanted him. They kissed passionately for a while before Lyn pulled away for a breather.

"Lyn…" he said seductively, but he stopped as she began to rub his ear. He closed his eyes and just let the pleasure take over.

"...Lyn…" he moaned, but he couldn't say much else before she was kissing him again. He wrapped his arms around her and turned over to that he was now on top, allowing the black silk sheet that covered him to fall across her, leaving him bare. His hands made their way under her shirt and pulled it off. She made no objections as he pulled the cover out from between them as one of his hands slid into her pants, but then he stopped, to her surprise.

"What's wrong?" she asked as she saw him lower his head.

"It's just that…I didn't think anyone would love me since I'm, you know, not normal," he said as he looked up at her sadly. He knew what he was doing though. If he dove right into having her, she might suspect something but he also didn't want to lay it on _**TOO**_ thick.

"You were wrong. You might look different but your still human, or at least half anyway," she said and she smiled as his ears twitched and he looked up with a sexy smile on his face. Yet, what Lyn didn't know was that he was different now. When he died, his innocence died with him, all that was left was his sly, demonic part. The part that would manipulate anyone for something he wanted. He felt nothing for anyone, including her.


	3. Hello, Goodbye, Hello

**Author's Note: Still don't own InuYasha, I wonder if Takahashi is willing to sell him?**

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**Ch. 3**

_**Hello, Goodbye, Hello**_

"I don't know about this Sango…" said a young teenage boy with short, brown spiked hair, dark brown eyes and a handsome face. In his right hand he held a staff and around his left hand, a piece of his long blue cloak was wound around his wrist and hand where prayer beads hung and clanked as he shifted nervously.

"Shut up Miroku, Lyn needs us now more than ever," replied a tall teen girl with black hair pulled back and whose brown/green eyes narrowed at him in annoyance. She also had a large boomerang strapped to her back, making her look even more precarious.

"Whatever, at least knock before you go in…" the teenage boy named Miroku said as he rolled his eyes and leaned against his staff.

"Too late…" the young teenage girl named Sango said as she opened the door. She looked behind her and gave him an innocent smile. He just looked at her blankly and sighed deeply as he ran his fingers through his hair.

***squeak*** "Lyn? Are you here?" Sango whispered as she tip-toed in. She quickly scanned the room before she walked farther into it. Miroku quietly followed her in, and immediately got an ominous feeling. He clutched his staff tighter as he broke off from Sango and walked towards the back of the room. He had a feeling all was not right with this place.

"Lyn? Are you here?" Sango said as she wandered around whispering her name. Before to long she stopped at the screen that separated the shrine where InuYasha's body was from the rest of the room.

* * *

"Crap…" InuYasha thought as his eyes shot open as his sensitive ears picked up Sango's whispers. He growled deeply at being disturbed.

"Lyn, Sango's here!" he said as he nudged her and at the sound of Sango's name her eyes flew open. She sat up and at realizing that she was naked, pulled the silk sheet up and over her chest.

"Damn, she doesn't know that you're alive. Not that anybody does really…" she whispered to him as she ran her fingers through her hair and tried not to panic.

"What are you thinking about doing then?" he said as he looked at the screen and warped a hand protectively around Lyns' waist.

"I believe it's a little too late for thinking," she said as she pushed him off the shrine mattress as Sango slid open the screen.

"Lyn...! _Oh My God_! I'm _soooo_ sorry!" Sango said as she threw her hand over her eyes at the sight of Lyn's bare body. She quickly rolled the screen door shut again and leaned against it in minute shock.

"She's gone," Lyn hissed at him as she got off the shrine and started to look for her clothes. She stepped over him as he sat up and rubbed the back of his head.

"That was close, but how am I supposed to leave now?" he asked her as he sat up and folded his arms atop the shrine mattress and watched her search for he clothes.

"I don't know. Lets get dressed and I'll think of something. Where the hell are my panties?" she said as she stopped and placed her hands on her hips.

"Fine, but I do believe these are yours though," he said as he held up a pair of pink and black laced panties with a grin on his face.

"Give me those, and you take these," she said as she shoved a pair of black boxers over his head. She laughed gently as he struggled to get his head out of one of the legs. He finally did and looked up at her and gave her a dirty look, but then smiled suavely and she just shook her head.

* * *

"Sango, I need to show you something," Lyn said as she stuck her head out from behind the shrine screen. She gave Sango a small, uncomfortable smile and motioned for her to follow.

"Sure Lyn, but what were you doing in here with no clothes on?" Sango asked curiously. She noticed Lyn seemed different. She gave the impression of someone who was nervously awaiting something. Lyn kept looking back at her to make sure she was still there, or better yet, to make sure that no one was following them.

"You'll see soon enough," Lyn said as Sango followed her into the inner shrine, but as Sango walked in she began to get nervous. Lyn was acting a little too weird for her.

"Ummm...what did you need?" Sango said as Lyn stopped and turned towards her. Sango knew something rather odd was happening and it scared her a bit.

"I need to show you this," Lyn said as she pulled back a black curtain, exposing a small dark room where Sango could see someone leaning on the wall. Her breath caught in her lungs as she stared at menacing outline of a tall man leaning against the wall.

"Come on Sango," Lyn said as she grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the room making the figure turn his head. They stopped right next to him and they were so close that Sango could hear him breathe. As Sango turned to him, the figure grabbed her arm.

"Let me go!" she cried, and in a flash, Hiraikotsu came crashing down on the figures head. The figure howled in pain as he went crashing to the ground.

"Stop Sango!" Lyn said as she grabbed the giant boomerang from Sango and held her back, but Sango broke from her grip and fell clumsily to the hardwood floor.

"What the fuck was that about?" growled the attacked, who was now standing and brushing off his clothes, but as he stood up, a ray of light from a nearby window fell upon his face. Sango gasped and her jaw fell open in pure shock.

"InuYasha? But your dead, right! Lyn...?" Sango said, confused and scared as she looked up at Lyn with her large, brown eyes which pleaded for an answer. Her head was swimming and she didn't know how to react and just sat there helplessly.

"Sango…" Lyn said putting on an uncomfortable smile as she held out a hand to her friend. Sango took it and she stood there looking at InuYasha in amazement even as Lyn took her by the hand and guided her out of the room. InuYasha just sighed and followed suit.

* * *

"Wow, that's wicked InuYasha! Now Lyn won't be alone and miserable. But that still doesn't explain why you were naked Lyn…" Sango said as she eyed Lyn curiously. Sango had an idea of what had gone on, but just wanted to make sure she wasn't jumping to any wild conclusions.

"Damn, you have some slow ass friends Lyn," InuYasha said as he slid his arm around her waist. Lyn blushed a bit and looked up at him. He still sent chills up her spine every time he looked her in the eyes. It was just the way his ocher eyes looked inside her, it made her heart melt. In the back of her mind though, those eyes were not the same ones she saw that day in the street and the chill that ran up her spine was also one of foreboding.

"...ooohhh! You guys are sooo bad! I can't believe you guys actually did it! Did you like it?" Sango asked curiously, looking at Lyn intensely, awaiting an answer.

"What? You're worse than Miroku!" Lyn said turning bright pink. InuYasha looked down at her and he felt a weird sensation building up inside of him. It was the same feeling he had gotten before when he was trying to seduce Lyn. He just grunted and brushed it off.

"Miroku! That's right; he's around here somewhere still! Let's go find him!" Sango said as she grabbed Lyns' hand and dragged her away. Lyn looked back, smiled, and shrugged at InuYasha.

"Chicks are weird…" he muttered to himself as he watched the two disappear behind the screen.

* * *

"Lyn? Sango? Where are you guys?" Miroku whispered as he snooped around the shrine. He wasn't sure how long he had been looking around and he was sure he had been going in circles the whole time.

"Hmmmm...I've got an idea," InuYasha thought to himself as he heard Miroku's whispers. An impish smile spread across his face, causing him to expose his fangs as he slipped into the shadows behind the monk.

"Lyn? Hello! I can't believe I'm doing this! This place is creepy…" he whined to himself as he walked farther and farther into the dark shrine.

"Ly…" but his words caught in his throat as he saw the outline of a figure standing in the doorway. Miroku rubbed his eyes and opened them and when he did, the figure was gone.

"OK, calm down Miroku. You're just a little...scared…" he said this last word softly as he felt hot breath on his neck and heard a deadly growl. He nearly pissed his pants as his knees grew weak and he began to wobble.

"Miroku…" the owner of the growl said softly into his ear. The monk's heart felt as if it were going to explode if it beat any faster. He meant to run but his feet were glued to the spot.

"Long time no see," the mystery voice laughed as it grabbed him from behind and lifted him up by his shirt collar. That's when Miroku began to freak out.

"Please demon spirit thingy...I don't wish to die!" he howled as he began to cry pathetically and struggled weakly to get out of his captors vice grip.

"Hahahahahahahahahaha...Mir...Miroku! Hahahahahaha," the voice laughed hysterically, dropping Miroku. It doubled up with laughter and Miroku just stared at them in disbelief.

"Who are you!" Miroku yelled making the figure stop laughing. It stood up and wiped the tears that had leaked out his eyes from laughing so hard. It brushed back its long hair and walk out of the shadows from where it was hidden.

"Inu...InuYasha?" Miroku gasped as InuYasha slapped him on the back and laughed as he walked away. The monk was still standing in the dark when he heard the shrine door open and close as InuYasha left.

"Wait, don't leave me! I'm afraid of the dark!" Miroku yelled as he ran to catch up with him.

* * *

"That's somewhat plausible I guess, considering that your half demon and all. Anything's possible," Miroku said as he finished listening to InuYasha's rather incredible tale.

"I thought the girls would be back by now…" InuYasha said as he sniffed the air, trying to catch a whiff of either of the girls' scents.

"Kill me now…" he growled as he heard the monk start to talk again.

"Sooo...what did she do when she saw you were alive? Come on InuYasha, tell your ol' buddy Miroku!" he asked as he leaned on his knees and stared intently at the hanyuo.

"No, it's private," InuYasha said turning a light shade of pink, trying to look like as if it was an accident. Though, his blushing wasn't all intentional. When he thought about it, that same annoying feeling came rushing back and each new surge was even more powerful than the one before it.

"Ooohhh you guys did it! I'm so proud of you!" Miroku said before InuYasha punched him.

"Owwww...that was uncalled for!" Miroku whined as he rubbed his arm, trying to regain feeling in it.

"Here come the girls. Oh and Miroku, don't touch Lyn. If you do, I'll kill you," InuYasha said looking at the monk, and he wasn't kidding. Even though his emotions were gone, his demonic side still associated Lyn as his property.

"Understood my dear friend," the monk said with an innocent, yet nervous smile on his face. There was something different about InuYasha and it made the monk rather uneasy.

* * *

"So, how does it feel to be un-single now?" Sango asked as she untied her long brown hair and tossed her head from side to side to loosen it up. The monk watched her do this and Lyn spied a small smile on his lips. She smiled and shook her head slightly.

"It feels good actually," Lyn replied as she laid her head on InuYasha's chest. As she did this, she heard him growl slightly.

"What's wrong InuYasha?" Sango asked as she eyed him keenly.

"I smell Sesshomaru," he growled and pulled Lyn tighter towards him. It was almost a reflexive motion and it surprised him a bit. But he bigger worries now.

"How the fuck did he find me and what does he want? After all these years, why now…" InuYasha thought before Lyn's voice pulled him back to reality.

"Whose Sesshomaru and why is that such a bad thing?" Lyn asked curiously, but she could tell from the way that InuYasha, Sango, and Miroku were acting that this guy wasn't good news.

"He's my half-brother and I don't know why he's here. If he sees you guys here though, he'll take you all out," he said standing up, ready to face his full blooded demon half-brother. He was about to go to the door when he felt Lyn grab his hand. He stopped in surprise and looked down at her. Gazing into those large, watery green eyes made the feeling crash down on him.

"I love you InuYasha. Don't get yourself killed, again…" he knelt down in front of her and took both of her hands in his and looked into her big green eyes as a wave of guilt swept over him. His demonic side was rather surprised and he felt something else beginning to grow inside of him.

"Don't lose your nerve now you fool!" he thought to himself as he came up with something noble to say, but his words weren't coming from his dominate side, but from the powerful new side that was taking hold over his mind. He was battling with himself now, and he didn't know it.

"I love you Lyn and I won't let him hurt you, now go with Sango and Miroku. Get her out of here safely you two, I'm counting on you guys," he said looking up and them and Sango could see the uneasiness in his eyes. There was also something else, something more sinister, but also something more sincere.

"You can count on us InuYasha!" Miroku said saluting his friend before they disappeared out the window.

* * *

"You can never win against me you pathetic mutt," Sesshomaru said as he kicked InuYasha in his already broken ribs.

"Where are the others, the pretty one in particular? She'd come in handy for what I have planned for back home," he said as he sat down at the edge of the couch and took a cherry from the bowl on the table. He twirled it around before he tossed it aside and sighed in boredom.

"I'll never tell you...you bastard!" InuYasha spat through the pain. He looked up at his older brother and his vision double but came back into focus as he saw Sesshomaru stand up and unsheathe his sword once again. He didn't entirely register what Sesshomaru had said about Lyn, but a part of him did and thought it strange.

"Fine, die for her then," he said as he raised his blood encrusted sword above InuYasha's battered body once more, this time meaning to finish the job.

"Say hello to father for me will you?" he smirked as he thrust the sword down, but InuYasha caught it and ripped it out of his brothers hands. He staggered to his feet and shoved his surprised brother over the edge of the coach with surprising force, given his condition.

"Tell him your damn self," he said as he stabbed him through the heart. He pulled the sword back and smiled as he heard Sesshomaru howl in pain and defeat. Slowly he stood and staggered blindly towards InuYasha and grabbed the front of his red, fire-rat robes. Sesshomaru looked into his brother's eyes and saw the demonic flames that had taken over burning in them.

"...damn...you," Sesshomaru said as he fell to his knees. He grabbed at the bottom of InuYasha's robes again but he just moved back and watched as Sesshomaru was enveloped by a black mist and disappeared along with it.

"Feh...thought you…could beat...me?" InuYasha said as he dropped the sword, fell to his knees and swayed there for a few seconds before falling face first into a pool of his own blood.

* * *

"Is he alive?"

"I don't know…"

InuYasha heard the voices above him but he couldn't open his eyes, he was too tired.

"He's still alive, but I'm not sure for how much longer though. He's lost a lot of blood Lyn…" the voices above him spoke once again.

"Are they talking about me? It can't be that bad, can it?" InuYasha thought, but as he felt his body going numb, he knew it was worse than he had imagined.

"Why isn't he healing himself though? I thought he could do that," Lyn said as she kneeled down next to his bleeding and battered body.

"It depends on how bad his wounds are, and these seem fatal," Miroku said as he too knelt besides InuYasha and examined him. His face was taught and grim as he said this and he felt like an idiot for letting InuYasha fight Sesshomaru by himself.

"No! We can't give up hope! Miroku, help me move him to the couch," Lyn cried as she grabbed him under his arms and Miroku lifted him by his legs to the couch. InuYasha felt himself being lifted and every little movement hurt, it felt as if his body was falling apart, piece by piece.

"Shit, I promised Lyn I wouldn't die, again. This is what you get when you try to be the big man, you get hurt, you die," his thoughts whispered to him as he felt his body growing cold and then he could no longer hear his friends voices. The sensation that had been growing stronger and stronger seemed to have acquired a voice as it whispered something else to him, yet he couldn't understand it. Even his thoughts were losing focus.

"Why do you care what you promised her? Come on InuYasha, you're a demon, start acting like one!" the other side of him said, and InuYasha was now torn. Which voice was he going to listen to, which was right, which was trying to lead him astray? His mind began to haze over and soon the voices ceased.

"How are we gonna heal him? We don't have a miko or even a Senpai Akki!" Miroku said as he looked away from InuYasha and put his head against the wall as he tried to come to terms at what was happening, again.

"Those kinds of people don't even exist in this realm and went extinct or disappeared in InuYasha's and our home realm years ago! There's nothing we can do," Sango said as she crossed her arms and stood there in an icy state of denial.

"Shut up Sango!" Miroku yelled at her viciously and the two began to bicker back and forth.

"**S_hut _U_p_**! **T_he _B_oth _O_f _Y_ou _J_ust _S_hut _T_he _F_uck _U_p_**!" Lyn screamed. Her voice was full of anger and tears. She didn't understand what they where talking about and she didn't care, all she cared about was InuYasha.

"Why must fight at a time like this? I'm going to loose the one thing I love and all you can do is argue!" Lyn yelled becoming madder and more frustrated.

"Lyn your eyes...your eyes are violet!" Miroku exclaimed pointing at her. He could hardly believe what he was seeing and just stared.

"Lyn, you're a miko!" Sango said as she looked into the now dark violet eyes of her best friend in disbelief.

"I am! I am? Wait, what's a miko?" Lyn asked as she stood there staring at them with an expression of pure confusion, her now violet eyes losing their color and intensity slowly.

"A miko is a human that has spiritual powers and god knows what else!" the monk said rubbing the back of his head in shear shock.

"That means I can heal him right?" Lyn exclaimed dropping down next to InuYasha's broken and bleeding body. A glimmer of hope began to shine in the distance and she wasn't about to let it just die out.

"It's worth a try, I guess, but you need to hold onto your anger. Pure, unfiltered emotion is what channels the miko's power. Use your anger!" Sango said excitedly, but sighing deeply. She wasn't sure of what else to say or do.

"Hang on InuYasha. Just hold on…" Lyn whispered in his ear, she then rubbed it and heard him sigh weakly in pleasure. That's when it hit her.

"That's it, just hold on to this feeling. Sango, come and rub his ear gently while I heal him," Lyn said as she whipped her head in Sango's direction. At first Sango looked both surprised and scared. Then she gathered herself and nodded.

"Sure, why not?" Sango said as she took over rubbing his soft, white ear. As she did that, Lyn closed her eyes and placed her hands above his head, concentrating on the anger she had felt at Sango's denial and her anger at InuYasha for getting hurt, and she though about his healing. She had never done it before, but she just did what felt right.

"Your doing it Lyn!" Miroku exclaimed as a dark violet light engulfed InuYasha's body and the hand Sango was using to rub his ear. Lyn hardly heard him, she was in a world all her own. She opened her eyes and they were a burning violet.

"Lyn, how come your eyes are purple?" InuYasha asked as he opened his glowing yellow eyes and sat up rubbing his neck. He looked around at the look of shock and relief on everyone's faces.

"InuYasha, I thought I had lost you, again!" Lyn said as she threw he arms around his neck and marveled at how warm he was.

"But how come your eyes are purple, and why was Sango rubbing my ear?" he asked, obviously confused. Lyn let go and glared at him before she punched in him the arm.

"Ow, what did I do already?" he said as he rubbed his arm. He looked into her eyes that were brimming with tears of relief, anger and some other emotion. Was it love perhaps, but what is love he thought softly to himself.

"I'm sorry, forgive a fool?" he asked as he gave her his 'puppy dog' look of forgiveness. Lyn just laughed and kissed him, knocking him on his back again. He kissed her back and moved his hand to her back and caressed it.

"Ummm InuYasha, Lyn?" Miroku said uncomfortably.

"Oh, sorry you guys," Lyn said, her cheeks turning pink, but InuYasha just lay there with a smile and a far away expression on his face.


	4. Home Sweet Fuedal Era

**Author's Note: I still do not own InuYasha or any other kick ass character in my lil' ol' story, except Lyn, Matt, and Florina. Their all mine ^-^.**

* * *

**Ch. 4**

_**Home Sweet Feudal Era**_

"I'm so glad you and Miroku decided to get together!" Lyn said as she nuzzled up next to InuYasha.

"I know, it seems like a big surprise but we really like each other," Sango said laying her head on Miroku's shoulder. The monk looked down at her and smiled the same smile Lyn saw before InuYasha's fight with Sesshomaru.

"Actually, it wasn't a big surprise at all," InuYasha said, yet, he seemed distracted.

"Yeah, it was really obvious. I mean, you guys were always all over each other in one way or another," Lyn said shrugging slightly.

"Yeah, besides, it seemed that you started to like it when Miroku felt up on you Sango," InuYasha said with a smirk, but then he just started to stare off into space again. Lyn saw this and frowned slightly.

"Ok, ok, we get it," Sango said rolling her eyes as Miroku hugged her against him.

"Feh...copy cats," InuYasha said running his claws through Lyn's long black hair absent mindedly.

"You're such a big jerk sometimes," Sango said throwing a pillow at him playfully.

"I try," he said with a toothy grin, but in the back of his mind, he kept going over the dream he had had when he was in between being alive and being dead.

***Flashback***

"Where am I?" InuYasha thought as he looked around. He was surrounded by trees and the sounds of birds were close. The only thing out of place was that the sky was a deep, crimson red.

"Welcome home, InuYasha," came a deep voice from behind him. As he spun around, he was facing a well overgrown with vines. Sitting upon this well was young demon with black feathered wings. As he looked up, InuYasha saw that his eyes were blood red, even the parts that should have been white. There was nothing but a sea of red staring back at the hanyuo.

"Who are you?" InuYasha asked as he saw the young demon smile maliciously.

"Ah, the names not important, but it's Kratos by the way. What is important though, is what I have here," the demon said as he stood up and opened his wing, revealing an unconscious Lyn. As his wing completely opened, she fell into the demon's waiting arms.

"Lyn!" InuYasha said. As he went to her, he was stopped by vines that wrapped around his legs, causing him to fall. He looked up at the demon Kratos and growled.

"Why the rush half-demon? Didn't you say yourself that she's only a mortal girl? Why do you care what happens to her?" the demon said as he bent over her and breathed in her scent. He smiled in pleasure and then began to kiss her neck and then he bit her, causing her to moan in pain.

"Stop it Kratos! Leave her alone!" InuYasha said as he struggled to get up, but was stopped by more vines winding around him, pining him to the ground.

"Well, well, well. The great half-demon cares for something other than his self. Why don't you just abandon her like you abandoned your home," the demon laughed as he picked up Lyn and held her over the well opening.

"She is no further use to me, or to you. She'll only, as you said, weigh you down," Kratos hissed and as he let her go.

As she fell she opened her eyes and said "come home InuYasha. We need you, I need you…where did you go?" and then she was gone and he was looking into Lyn's violet eyes.

***End of Flashback***

"Well, we better be on our way then. Sango, shall we?" Miroku said as he stood up, stretched a bit, and then held out his hand to Sango.

"Have fun in New York you two!" Lyn said with a wide smile as she hugged her best friend goodbye.

"Yeah, bring back some souvenirs!" InuYasha said with a toothy grin.

"Sure…" Sango said rolling her dark brown eyes at InuYasha. He smirked and as he watched the two leave and as soon as they left, his ghost of a smirk disappeared.

"Aren't those two cute together?" Lyn said as she looked up at him. She saw his face had a shadow of doubt and, was it possible? Did she see a glint of fear in his eyes? No, just a trick of the shadows, that's all.

"Feh...I don't do cute," InuYasha said as he stood up. He walked over to the window and stared out into the dark, fall afternoon sky.

"What's wrong InuYasha? You seem troubled," she said as she stood up and walked over to his side. She looped her arm around his waist and rested her delicate head on his shoulder.

"I need to tell you something Lyn, about why I don't live in my time…" he said as he lowered his head and sighed deeply before he lifted it again and turned towards her.

"What do you mean your time? I heard Miroku say something about it but…" she said, but was stopped when he rested a slender, clawed finger on her vermillion lips and smiled sadly.

"Let me explain…"

***Flashback* **

"Why do they want to hurt us Sesshomaru? What did we do?" asked a young boy whose small, white dog ears twitched nervously. This boy stood next to a tall, menacing young man who rested a thin, yet strong white hand on the boys shoulder and squeezed. The young demon boy flinched but looked up at the man.

"We are a threat to those pathetic mortals. We must flee InuYasha," replied a teenage Sesshomaru. This boy was InuYasha's older, full blooded demon half-brother.

"Were will we go Sesshy?" the young InuYasha whimpered.

"We must go to the well, it is our only hope. Grab my hand InuYasha and hold on," Sesshomaru said as he held out his hand to his younger half-brother.

"Yes brother," InuYasha said as he grabbed Sesshomaru's hand. With a young bounding leap, the brothers soared through the treetops as Sesshomaru finally came to a stop at a old vine covered well. This well was legend to be a portal to another world.

"Are you scared InuYasha?" Sesshomaru asked InuYasha without looking at him.

"No brother," InuYasha said calmly, but Sesshomaru could smell his fear and it sickened him.

"...hold on to me," Sesshomaru said and InuYasha obediently latched onto him. The young demon leapt into the well and through a blinding bluish-white light. When the two bothers landed, Sesshomaru told InuYasha that he was to never go back.

"Why Sesshy?" InuYasha said as Sesshomaru looked away from him and walked to the door of the building the well had left them in.

"Don't ask questions, just don't come back," and with that, Sesshomaru disappeared, leaving the young InuYasha to fend for himself in an unknown world.

***End of Flashback* **

"InuYasha, I had no idea. But why are you telling me this?" Lyn said as she looked into his moist, amber eyes.

"Because I need to go back," he said looking away from her. Every time her saw her, the dream he had experienced surfaced and caused him untold pain in a part of his soul he thought was lost.

"Why?" she asked, concern dripping from her words.

"My time is in danger and they need me," InuYasha said as he raised his head and looked out at the small wooden shack at the edge of Lyn's yard.

"How do you know?" she asked as she placed a soft, white hand on his cheek and forced him to look at her. He looked deep into her emerald eyes and felt a connection so strong that it scared him. Thankfully his demonic part pushed it away and left him feeling strong and unattached. In the back of his mind though, he knew something was there, waiting for its chance to take over once again.

"I just do…" he said coldly, but he knew because his connection to the feudal area was still strong and the dream he had was a warning to him that he needed to go back, soon.

"If you go then I'm going too!" Lyn said as she crossed her arms in front of her, protesting the idea of him going by himself.

"No, it is too dangerous for you there…" he told her, but a part of him was yelling '_are you crazy? She __HAS__ to come with you!_' but then came a strong voice that almost overpowered the one yelling at him. It was telling him that she was more. The voices were competing for his attention and the voice telling him that Lyn was nothing was getting quieter. It had been getting quieter ever since the dream with Lyn and the winged demon.

"I don't care InuYasha, you need me there," she said, breaking him out of his trance like state. Both voices ceased at the sound of her voice, but he could still hear mutterings coming from the both of them back in the corners of his mind.

"Why? I can take care of myself just fine," he said crossing his arms in his own protest. Lyn just stared at him and he remembered all how many times she had saved him because, well, to be honest, he couldn't take very good care of himself. He was to rash and hot-tempered and he knew it.

"Fine, but pack well," he said, finally giving in to both her hot gaze and his small bit of common-sense.

"Yeah, road trip! But what do I tell my mom?" Lyn said as she stopped in her tracks and put on a very puzzled expression as she looked at him for either help or an answer.

"Lyn, your parents can never know," he said solemnly.

"What? Why InuYasha?" she said with an expression of unsurpassed confusion.

"The well is in your backyard…" he said slowly, surprised that she didn't know.

"You mean you came out through my yard? How come I didn't meet you for awhile then?" she said, mostly to herself.

"Yes, and you actually met me the day I came out of the well," he said as he remembered the first day he had met her. He remembered how she had looked at him and how he fallen, just then he felt something in his heart; it was a warming sensation, something that pleased him and scared him at the same time. He just brushed it off though, and looked over at her.

"Ok then fine, all the more reason for me to go. I mean if the well is in my backyard, then I must be connected to your world somehow then right?" she said happily as she clapped her hands together in unwarranted excitement.

"I don't know and besides, you're the last miko, you could come in handy," he said, but a small voice spoke up in his head, '_in more ways then one_' the voice said to him softly. He smirked a little, but once again, the other, no stronger voice, began to chant _'she's more_.' He just shook his head vigorously and both voices became scrambled and ceased.

"Hey! I'm not just something that you can carry around with you! I'm a person to!" Lyn pouted, ignoring the weird jerking movements InuYasha had done with his head as he tried to silence the competing voices.

"My bad Lyn! Don't be mad," InuYasha said grabbing her hands in his own. He looked into her eyes as he thought to himself, '_nice one, do you ever plan on getting laid again?'_ But once again, the other voice spoke up and began to over power the other one. He just ignored them both as he stared into the green seas of her eyes.

"How can I stay mad at you?" she smiled and started to rub his ear. He felt a sensual sensation flow through him. His eyes began to close, but then he remembered what he was supposed to be doing.

"...whoa! wait till we get there!" he said as he broke away from her unwillingly. He smiled and kissed her as she ran off to pack.

* * *

"That's a little much don't you think?" InuYasha said as he eyed her 3 suitcases warily.

"Yeah, you're right. I'll just bring this one," she said as she walked down the stairs with just one, large black suitcase.

"Why just that one?" he asked suspiciously.

"This one has my clothes in it!" she said sweetly. InuYasha just rolled his eyes and grabbed her suitcase as he walked out of her back door.

"Off we go then! So tell me, what does it look like in your time?" she asked as she followed him. She was imaging a world of tall buildings and nasty demons hiding in the shadows of these large cities. Her own thoughts sent chills down her spine and she shivered despite the rather warm October air.

"It's all forest pretty much," he replied, his voice was far off as his mind began to wander back to the days of his life in the feudal area.

"Forest? I love forests!" Lyn said happily. She was relived that her over active imagination wasn't right.

"Good. Then you'll love it back home," he said as he stopped at the entrance to her old tool shed. He stood there for a moment before he pushed the old wooden door open. The smell of must and decay wafted up to their nostrils and Lyn held a hand over her nose.

"The tool shed? The well is in the tool shed?" she asked, her voice muffled by the hand over her face.

"It wasn't always a tool shed Lyn. It used to be a shrine," he said quietly. Sesshomaru had warned him to not go back, that they would persecute and kill him, like they had done his father. But Sesshomaru was dead and here InuYasha was, standing on the edge of no return. It was now or never for him.

"Oh, I see. Then what are we waiting for!" Lyn said as she ran in. She grabbed his hand and practically dragged him in with her.

"Wow, that's one messed up well! How are we supposed to jump in with all those vines in the way?" she asked as she walked up the stairs and stared disappointingly at the vine covered well.

"Like this," he said as he smiled and extended his claws. Lyns' eyes grew wide as she watched him slash away the vines until the well opening was clear.

"All done," he said as he clenched his fists, bringing back his claws. He had missed the way it felt to do that. He turned towards her and smirked as he saw the pleased/shocked expression on her face.

"The things you learn about people everyday. OK then, after you Mr. InuYasha," Lyn said stepping back.

"Baby…" he said as he threw her suitcase into the well and then turned back towards her with the faintest smirk playing on his lips.

"I've got a better idea," he said as he grabbed her around her waist and held her close to him. He felt her breasts against him and her hot breath on his neck. He closed his eyes and enjoyed these sensations.

"What are you doing?" Lyn whispered in his ear as she held onto him tighter, pulling herself closer. He opened his eyes and looked over the edge of the well into the black abyss of its bottom.

"I'm going down, what else?" he said as he jumped in holding her in his arms. As they fell she saw a bluish-white light below them, and before she knew it, it had engulfed them.

"What a ride, but how do we get up there?" Lyn said as she stared at the opening of the well that was at least 4 stories above them. It had been a rough landing because it had been awhile since InuYasha had been through the well. He had landed first and she fell on top of him face first. After she had rolled off of him and brushed the dirt off of her straight legged jeans, she realized just how high the opening was.

"Jeesh…" he sighed as he threw her suitcase up and over the opening. He then looked at her and held out his hand to her.

"Your not gonna throw me up there, are you?" she said, eyeing his hand suspiciously.

"No Lyn. I'm not aiming to kill you babe. We're gonna jump out," he said as he grabbed her around the waist and put her on his back. She was stunned at first, but then she wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tight.

"Hold on," he said as he leapt up and bounded off the sides of the walls until he jumped out and into the blinding sunlight of mid-day.

"Impressive…" Lyn said as she unburied her face from his wild mane of white hair and looked around.

"Thanks. I haven't done that in quite awhile," he said as he eased her off his back. He stood straight up and heard his back give a slight crack and he sighed in relief. He looked over at Lyn who was standing in the clearing, gazing out into the immense forest that was the feudal area; that was his home.

"It's so beautiful here…" she said as she gazed hopelessly at the huge, towering trees above her. She was amazed at how luscious and green they were and how the sun light was scattered in a million different bright jewels that sparkled on the ground and washed across her face.

"I know. It makes me remember how much I missed it here," he said as he crossed his arms and inhaled the scents of everything surrounded them. It filled him with a kind of warmth only being home came bring. It seemed to him that even demons have a somewhat soft side.

"Well your back now, so don't worry about it anymore," she said as she turned and ran towards him. Before she could reach him, though, she tripped and cried out in pain making the birds in the trees fly away in surprise.

"What's wrong Lyn?" he said as he bent down next to her and ran his claws through her hair in an effort to clam her down.

"I think I broke my ankle InuYasha…" she finally said, tears shining in her eyes. He looked down from her pain filled eyes and down to her ankle. He rolled up her pant leg and saw that her ankle was bent at a rather odd ankle wand was swollen and bruising already. He sighed and looked back up at her.

"Damn. OK, I'll carry you," he said as he picked her up bridal style and began to walk through the forest, leaving her suitcase propped up against the well.


	5. Hunter's, Demons, and Castle's Oh My!

**Author's Note I do not own InuYasha.**

* * *

_**Ch. 5**_

_**Hunters, Demons, and Castle's Oh My!**_

A young man with chocolate brown hair and eyes to match looked up as he saw the birds take off from the trees. He was bent over the body of a strange looking creature with four arms and razor sharp teeth. He pulled a lone arrow out of its heart and wiped its black blood of the tip. He froze when he heard the scream.

"Demons," he said to himself as he pulled on his blood red cloak, strung his bow, and took off with the stealth and speed of a fox toward Lyn and InuYasha.

* * *

"_**InuYasha**_! Watch out!" Lyn cried as an arrow shot down at them.

"Where'd that come from?" he said as he jumped out of the arrows path. He held her closer as he scanned the forest for the owner of the arrow.

"I don't know..._**InuYasha**_!" but it was too late, another arrow had come down and caught him right above the heart, shoving him back. He dropped her as he slammed into the ground with an unearthly howl of pain.

"_**InuYasha**_!" she cried out, but her cries were cut short as another arrow came out from the trees and caught him in the side. She cringed as he howled in pain yet again. She heard him whimper lightly as she crawled toward him, but stopped as a hooded figure dressed in a long red cloak dropped from the trees and landed next to InuYasha. He strung his bow and aimed at InuYasha's head. The hooded figure looked down into the hanyuo's now crimson tinged amber eyes and felt a twinge of fear run through the middle of his being. He brushed it off and smiled as he strung the bow tighter for the final blow.

"_**Stop**_!" Lyn yelled as she jumped up and grabbed the figure, throwing him half-way across the forest into a tree. She heard the tree splinter slightly as the figures body made contact with it.

"InuYasha? Can you hear me?" Lyn said softly as she brushed a few strands of his white hair from his now equally white face.

"Lyn, that was a demon hunter," he said as he closed his eyes and drew in a shallow breath. They way he struggled to breath and how deathly pale he was scared Lyn like she had never been scared before.

"So? You can heal yourself right?" she asked desperately. She saw the answer in his eyes, but refused to believe it.

"No, he's got a poison that is fatal to demons," he gasped out. Breathing was becoming more and more difficult for the hanyuo because the last arrow had punctured his lung. As he struggled to breath, he wondered why it seemed that everyone was out to kill him. Couldn't he get through one day without getting killed? So much for home sweet home.

"What? No InuYasha!" she cried out. He just grabbed her hand and squeezed as a pain ripped through his body, causing him to arch his back up and moan. She looked away as he did this because it hurt her to see him like this.

"It's OK, don't move, I'm gonna remove the arrows. I've got an idea," she said as she grasped one of the arrows and pulled. The hanyuo howled as a spurt of blood shot out of the wound as she did. She then grabbed the other one and repeated what she had done, only this time he didn't scream. He was just to exhausted and numb at this point.

"So what's your big...idea?" he panted after he gathered some strength. She saw he was becoming paler by the second and it didn't help that every time he took in a breath it made a heart wrenching screaming sound.

"Tonight's the new moon," she said, managing some sort of smile. He just looked at her as if he was at a total loss.

"...so?" he said slowly.

"So, you said that it's fatal to _JUST_ demons. So when you become human, I can heal you while your human body fights the poison!" she said, trying to sound hopeful enough for the both of them.

"That's my girl," he said as he forced a smile to appear on his now thin, pale lips. He went to touch her cheek, but all of a sudden a hand came around and pulled her away from him."Don't touch her demon filth," the cloaked figure snarled.

"What are you doing you idiot?" Lyn yelled as she stood up and hit him upside the head, causing InuYasha to smile weakly.

"Owww! I _WAS _gonna save you from this demon…" the figure said as he rubbed the back of his hooded head. He sounded both astonished and irritated at being interrupted again.

"I don't need saving!" she said as she forcefully shoved him aside and dropped down next to InuYasha again and took his hand.

"What do you mean? I heard you scream and I saw him carrying you and it looked like you were hurt, so I thought…" the hooded boy said as he stood there, rather dumbfounded at the whole situation.

"You thought wrong! InuYasha was carrying me 'cause I hurt my ankle!" Lyn said rather matter-of-factly and looked up and pursed her lips together in a any-other-stupid-questions fashion.

"InuYasha? The legendary half-demon helping a _Mortal_?" the hooded boy said taking a step back and looking at the half demon closely for the first time. He shook his head in disbelief and then put a hand under the large, red hood and rubbed his temples.

"You sound surprised. His mom was a mortal after all," Lyn said as she put the back of her hand to the hanyuo's forehead. He was burning up and Lyn was sure it was the poison ravaging his body that was causing the monstrous fever.

"I know that! Shit, I'm _SO _sorry InuYasha…" the hooded youth said as he clasped his hands together in front of him and held them to his forehead and bowed steeply.

"Do I know you?" InuYasha said, looking at the hooded figure suspiciously.

"Yeah, its me...Matthew!" the demon hunter said as he swept off his hood, reveling a smiling face no older than 16. His long, hazel hair tumbled down and fell over his equally hazel eyes. He brushed the fallen hair off his face and a faint smile filled with unquenchable guilt played on his thin, pink lips.

"Matt! Long time no see. Are you still the same ol' thief...I used to know?" InuYasha struggled to say as he grabbed his old friend's hand and attempted to shake it, but let go as another spasm of pain ripped through him.

"Yeah. This demon slaying thing is just a part time job," he said shrugging slightly as he knelt next to Lyn and frowned a little. He felt like shit for nearly killing his once best friend.

"Do you to know each other?" Lyn said, a little bothered by this sudden reunion.

"Yeah, we were best friends until the village attacked him and Sesshomaru. How is that bastard anyway?" Matt asked as he looked into his friends now waxen and dull amber eyes.

"He's dead. I killed him after he...went after Lyn here," InuYasha panted. His eyes stared at the both of them before he shuddered and his eyes rolled up and closed as he fell into unconsciousness.

"Oh fuck. Well, we should find somewhere to pack it in for the night," Matthew said as he started to walk away.

"Wait dude, you're carrying him!" Lyn said grabbing Matthews's wrist. He turned towards her and smiled that oh-yeah-almost forgot-sorta smile.

"Of course I am…" Matt said sarcastically as he picked up the half-breed and followed Lyn.

* * *

"He doesn't look to well," Matt said as he set the dying half-breed down on his sleeping sheets.

"Tell me about it…" Lyn said as she bent down next to him and placed a hand on the hanyuo's forehead. He was burning up still and his face was twisted in a feverish expression of pain.

"Do you think he'll make it because I'm not to sure if I can live with the guilt of killing him," Matthew said as he looked over at the half-demon. Matt thought he looked as if he had already died. His skin was pale and his breathing was rapid and shallow, it hurt him to see his old friend this way and to know that it was his fault made it even worse.

"He better, I need him," Lyn whispered this last part into InuYasha's ear, making it twitch as he opened his eyes. They seemed to look at nothing and their normal burning curiosity was replaced by a dull, almost emotionless shine.

"I thought you'd never wake up," she said softly as he looked at her and a faint smile appeared on his pale lips.

"...Lyn?" he said looking at her with eyes that seemed to belong to another part of him, a softer side. A side less angry and a little more human, it was as if she were looking into the eyes she had seen the first day she met him.

"Yes InuYasha…" she said as she tried to fight back the tears that were building up behind her beautiful green eyes.

"Would you rub my ear?" he asked her in a far off voice. She laughed slightly and nodded, wiping off a few tears that had managed to escape. She saw that he was no longer looking at her, but instead was looking through her more and more as his eyes began to loose focus.

"Of course, you know how I love to…" she said as she began to rub it and she watched as he drifted to back into unconsciousness.

"He lets you touch his ears? The last person that tried to lost an arm…" Matt said as he watched her softly caress his white, but blood spattered ears.

"Well, I'm special…" she said as she placed his head in her lap and continued to gaze down at him and rub his ear as he had wished.

"I can see that. So, how did you manage to hurl me across the forest anyway?" he asked as he re-strung his bow and flexed it. He sensed something different about her, something he knew but couldn't exactly place.

"I guess I used my miko powers…" she said as she ran her fingers along InuYasha's cheek and rubbed a bit of blood off his deathly white face.

"Your miko powers! But miko's are extinct!" he exclaimed looking up at her.

"Not anymore. Besides, how did you expect me to heal him if I wasn't a miko?"

"I…" he began to say, but was cut off by Lyn's hand slamming against his mouth.

"The suns down," she said sternly as she looked up into the sky as it became pitch black except for the fire they sat around. Before their eyes, InuYasha began to change. His soft white hair began to fade until it was a chocolate brown that would match his eyes. His claws and fangs disappeared and the last to go were his ears. By the end of 5 minutes, his transformation was complete, made faster by spreading poison.

"Mmpph!" Matt said behind Lyn's hand, which still covered his mouth. She looked over at him and took her hand away and rubbed it on her jeans. He shrugged innocently and she just shook her head as she looked down at the now human InuYasha as he opened his now chocolate brown eyes and stared up at her.

"Are you ready InuYasha? This might hurt…" she said as she placed a hand over one wound and her other hand over the other wound. She breathed in deeply and tried to concentrate at the task at hand. She thought about nothing, and instead let an alien sensation flow through her as untapped energy began to course through her veins.

"Do it…"he said as he looked up at her and saw that she was already beginning to, but his eyes once again closed as he slipped back into unconsciousness. As the energy coursing through Lyn began to take form, Matthew's eyes grew in astonishment as a violet light radiated from Lyn's hands and engulfed InuYasha's wounds. He sat there quietly, mesmerized by the soothing purple glow and the fact that he could see his friends wounds healing before his eyes. As the glow subsided, the wounds were gone and Matthew looked at Lyn in amazement.

"Wow Lyn, that was amazing! But how come he's not awake?" the thief asked as he looked down at the healed but still unconscious InuYasha.

"His body needs to fight off the poison now" Lyn said distractedly for she was running her fingers through InuYasha's' blood spattered mane.

"Right. We should get some rest though while we wait for him to wake up," Matthew said as he threw more wood onto their fire and laid down on his sleeping sheets, facing both the fire and his two new guests.

"Good idea," Lyn said as she sighed and snuggled up next to InuYasha and placed her cheek against his bare chest so that she could fall asleep to the rhythm of his heart beat. To Matt's surprise, InuYasha pulled her closer to him and held her there. Matt just smiled as he laid his head down and slept.

* * *

"I feel good. She's great at this miko thing," InuYasha thought as he looked down at the sleeping girl in his arms. He was feeling restless and so he carefully slipped away from her and silently into the forest. He stopped at the lake and washed the blood off of his body and his hair when he saw the reflection of the moon in the clear water. He looked up at the night sky as it turned red.

"Red night sky? Kratos…" InuYasha said as he turned around to face a young angel demon with long black wings and menacing red eyes. The young demon stood there with his arms crossed, looking at the half-demon with a curious yet bored look.

"This is what everyone said to be afraid of? What a joke," Kratos said as he rolled his crimson eyes. Before InuYasha could react, Kratos grabbed him around the neck and lifted him off his feet.

"I should kill you now, but unfortunately I need you to tell me where the miko is. She's very important in my plans for taking over this time...and hers," Kratos said with a sinister grin that seemed to make his eyes burn like the fires of hell from which he was born. InuYasha just glared at him and growled.

"So I guess we do this the hard way huh? I was hoping so," Kratos said as he took one clawed hand and placed it against InuYasha's forehead as he tried to pry into his thoughts. He was nearly in when he felt a strong searing pain tear through his thoughts. He pulled away from InuYasha and wiped off a trickle of blood that had fallen from his nose. He smiled at the sight of it and licked it off his fingers before he looked up at his captive.

"Still nothing huh? Well, I guess we'll need to leave her a little souvenir right?" he said as grabbed one of InuYasha's ears and sliced off a top piece of it with one of his claws. InuYasha cringed as he did this but didn't show pain. Instead he just glared at him.

"All righty then, shall we be going?" he said with a smirk as he raised one of his hands and smacked InuYasha on the forehead with his open palm. Though it may have seemed like a weak blow to anyone watching, the shear force knocked InuYasha out. With a satisfied smirk parting his black lips, Kratos wrapped a large black wing around them and disappeared into the night.

* * *

"Matthew! Matthew you lazy ass thief get up!" Lyn hissed as she gave the sleeping thief a shove.

"What?" Matt said as he sat up and stretched, when he saw the agitated yet worried look on the miko's face, he knew something was wrong.

"InuYasha's gone!" she said as she ran both her hands through her hair and stood up, her hands still entangled in her hair.

"What? How can he be gone?" Matt said as he looked up at her, not really believing that the half-demon could be gone.

"I don't know, but he's gone! We have to go find him. He's not strong enough to be alone yet" Lyn said as she began to pace back and forth anxiously. She knew that every time he was by himself he got into some sort of trouble and it aggravated her.

"Ok, just calm down and we'll go look for him. I'm sure he hasn't gone far. So let's go then," Matt said as he threw his cloak on and started into the forest with Lyn following fretfully behind him.

"InuYasha? Where are you?" Lyn called as she wandered through the forest. They had been searching for nearly an hour and there was no sign of the hanyuo yet.

"Lyn, over here! I think you should see this," Matt called to her as he passed through some bushes to get to the lake. He looked down at what he was seeing and almost immediately regretted calling her to him.

"What do you...is that blood?" she said as her eyes fell upon a almost black pool of liquid. Her heart seemed to stop as she tried not to think of whose it was.

"Yeah, I think its his," Matt said hesitantly because he knew that she was heading for a major freak out.

"How can you tell?" she said as she looked up at him, her eyes wide and pleading. He swallowed and looked away from her and back at the black puddle.

"Its got a piece of ear in it for starters. I bet this was Kratos doing," he said, and at the mention of his name, hate filled the young thief's eyes and a scowl formed on his usually handsome. Now it was shadowed by hate and painful memories.

"Who?" she said, as he gaze fell back onto the pool of blood and the piece of white and black stained ear tip. She knew this would be worse than the other times and that knowledge hurt her to the point of numbness. All she could think of was finding him and killing whoever did this. She felt a strong surge of energy and hate sweep through her as she growled deeply and she dug her nails into her skin, drawing blood.

"He's the demon angel that's been terrorizing this time. That's why InuYasha came back, and if I know Kratos, he's gonna kill InuYasha no matter what. We have to get to his castle in the forests center, now.." he said as he looked up into the horizon. He knew that if they didn't get there soon that InuYasha would be dead, if he wasn't dead already, but he kept this to himself.

"No, he won't die. We have to find him," Lyn said as she took off toward the center of the forest at a speed that only InuYasha could match.

"Lyn, wait!" Matt said as he took one last glance at the pool of now black blood and took off after her.

* * *

"Were is the miko? Tell me you mangy half-breed!" growled Kratos as he paced up and down in front of his captive. The demons pallid face had speckles of blood on it and his eyes seemed to burn hotter as he paced.

"I'll never tell you…"InuYasha said as the chains that bound him clanked together violently as he nearly fell forward. Kratos grabbed him by the neck as he fell and pulled his face up to meet his. Crimson eyes met stubborn amber ones as Kratos squeezed the hanyuo's throat, cutting off his air supply. He watched the half-breeds eyes roll up as he was passing out from lack of oxygen and then let the hanyuo go, watching him fall to knees. A dark bruise where Kratos had nearly squeezed the life out of him began to from around his neck. Still InuYasha said nothing and only weakly raised his head and stared maliciously up at his captor.

"Fine, be stubborn," he said as unsheathed his sword and stabbed InuYasha. Not to deep though, but instead stabbed him deep enough so that he could turn the sword inside of the hanyuo so he watch him howl and twist in agony. InuYasha instead just squeezed his eyes shut against the pain and when he opened them again, Kratos was standing in front of him, his sword tip dripping with his blood.

"How about we get rid of these? Make things a little more...even. So, tell me now?" Kratos said as he snapped his fingers and the chains vanished.

"Never!" InuYasha spat at Kratos. He looked straight at his rival and spat out blood that had pooled in his mouth and now ran down the corners of his mouth in small red streams.

"It sounds almost as if you love this miko? Tsk, tsk. You know the saying InuYasha..._**Love Hurts**_!" Kratos said as he stabbed him yet again, this time deeper. By this time, InuYasha was near death (again) but his ears pricked up as he picked up Lyn's scent. He turned his head toward the door and cursed her for coming for him because she was exactly what this monster wanted. He wouldn't let him win or lay a finger on her.

"What is it mutt? Tell me!" Kratos demanded as he followed InuYasha's gaze and saw nothing.

"Never!" InuYasha growled as he looked up at the furious demon and knew that he would die but he didn't care. As long as Lyn was OK he knew that it was worth it. She would live and he would die; it was an even exchange in his mind and he was ready. The side that was filled with hate and self-love had finally been overtaken and the soft-side was now his only side, and he was glad. For once in his 17 years, he was truly happy.

"Fine, then I suppose you'll have to die for her then!" Kratos growled as he lifted the sword above InuYasha's head and closed his eyes, gathering his strength. InuYasha took this opportunity to move out of the way, it was painful, but it was his only chance. Just as he did, Kratos brought his sword down with amazing strength and hit the stone floor so hard that the sword sliced through it. Kratos was thrown off guard by this turn of events and InuYasha ripped the sword out of his hands and stood before the shocked demon, sword in hand.

"How! You should be too weak to fight me!" Kratos said as he saw hanyuo raise the sword to his shoulder and peer over the silver edge with eyes filled with something stronger and more deadly than hate.

"I'll kill anyone for her, no matter how dead I already am!" InuYasha yelled as he swung the sword, and in one sweeping motion, cut off the shocked Kratos's head. As the head rolled across the floor and stopped at InuYasha's feet, he stabbed the sword through the head and leaned against the sword as it stuck tightly into the dead demon's skull.

"This will teach you to kill the almighty Kratos you filthy half-breed mutt!" Kent, Kratos lackey, said as he crept up behind InuYasha and stabbed him straight through the heart. InuYasha's eyes grew wide as he drove the sword in deeper until it came out through the front side of InuYasha's chest, and then pulled it out. The half demon fell to his knees and as he looked at his hands that were covered completely in his blood. He turned his head and he saw Lyn run in, just in time to see him collapse.

* * *

"_**InuYasha**_!" Lyn screamed to him for just as she entered the palace where InuYasha was at, she saw someone stab him from behind. She then watched as he fell to his knees after the assassin pulled the sword out.

_"_N_o__, _N_ot _A_gain_!" Lyn hissed and fell to her knees, clutching her all of a sudden pounding head. She screamed and slowly that scream turned into an unearthly howl as her eyes began to burn a violent purple and her nails became long and sharp. She dropped her now deadly talons to her sides and stood up slowly. She raised her head and stared straight at Kent and snarled. He turned around just in time to see Lyn charge at him before she cut off his face in a spurt of blood and flesh. She looked down at the body and then heard InuYasha move behind her, bringing her back to her senses.

"InuYasha! InuYasha…" Lyn sobbed as she ran and fell next to his body. Her eyes were quickly clearing and her talons had already become fingers and nails once again. She looked down at him and she knew, she just knew, that she would be leaving here without him.

"It's really over now Lyn.." he said as he looked into her eyes as his own eyes began to loose focus. He hadn't seen her remarkable and unexplainable transformation and nor would he have cared. All he wanted now was to see her beautiful jade eyes.

"No…" she said weakly as she grabbed his hand and held it against her cheek. Her hot tears ran down both their hands and some fell onto his face, but he couldn't feel it and just smiled up at her weakly. He knew what he had to say, but he didn't want to. He wanted her here with him, to have her never leave, but he knew that it was the only thing left to do. She might never forgive him, but in time, he thought, she would forget about him and that is what he wanted. She saw he wanted to say something and placed a hand on his cold, white cheek.

"Yes it is and you know it. That's why you must leave. Leave and forget about me. Take Matthew with you and...leave," he said as blood trickled from the corner of his mouth and ran onto the hand she had rested on his cheek. Her eyes widened in pain and shock. She didn't understand why he wanted her to leave him and even to forget about him. She loved him and would never forget him, how could he even ask that of her?

"What? Why InuYasha?" she asked him softly as she wiped away the blood that was running down his chin. He grabbed her wrist and she looked at him, tears running down her face. He looked at her solemnly and pushed her away from him. She fell onto her butt and stared at him in shock and fright.

"Because I have caused you nothing but pain...now _**Go**_!" he roared and she jumped up and ran out of the palace. He saw her grab Matthews' wrist and run out as everything went black and he was cold no more.


	6. How to End a Bad Date with an Old Flame

**Authors Note: This chapter is incredibly long! I do apologize for this, but my mind was on a roll, so why stop a good thing? Anyway, enjoy and I hope to get Ch. 7 up soon enough. By the way, I do not own InuYasha or any other related characters. So sad.**

* * *

**Ch. 6**

_**How to End a Bad Date with an Old Flame**_

"So, he really died, didn't he Lyn?" Sango asked as she grabbed Lyn's hand. The poor girl just sat there looking at her blood stained hands. She had ran out of tears long ago and now she just sat there quietly.

"Yeah. He died protecting us…" Matthew said with his head down. He remembered how InuYasha had come back to the feudal era to kill Kratos, even though he knew it would mean death. Then he remembered how Lyn had torn InuYasha's killer's face off with one swipe of her hand. He opened his eyes and pushed the images as far back into to his mind as he could.

"It's ok Lyn. In time, you'll forget about him," Miroku said innocently as he gave her a sad smile. The girl's head shot up and he saw how red her face was and he then realized what he had said wasn't quite the most comforting or right thing to say.

_"_I D_on't _W_ant _T_o _F_orget _A_bout _H_im _M_iroku!"_ she yelled as she ran up to her room and slammed the door, knocking off some of the pictures on the surrounding walls.

"Real smooth Miroku…" Sango said as she got up to leave. Miroku sighed and began to follow her to the door. He snagged her around the waist and whispered something into her ear. She shook her head slightly but turned her head to him and kissed his lips. He smiled at her and she just rolled her eyes as she opened the front door.

"Ummm...Sango, Miroku?" Matt said as he trotted over to the pair. He stopped next to them and both looked at him curiously.

"Yeah Matt?" they both said in unison as Sango closed the door and they both turned to him.

"Can I come stay with you guys until I get my own pad? Lyn kinda scares me…" he said as he thought back on the incident in the palace with Kent. He shuddered involuntarily at the thought and shoved his hands into his jean pockets and waited for them to answer.

"Sure, what are old friends for?" Miroku said as he, Sango and Matthew left, leaving Lyn to grieve in peace.

* * *

"Look what we have here Shippo," a young girl no older than 17 said as she wandered into a large stone castle that had been nearly engulfed by the surrounding forest.

"Is that the legendary InuYasha, Master Florina?" replied a young boy of about 15. He was sporting a fox tail and a pair of ears similar to InuYasha's. He walked over to InuYasha's body and knelt besides it. He closed his eyes and breathed in, slowly opening his eyes as he did. He titled his head curiously to one side for he did not smell any decay. How very odd, he thought to himself.

"Yes, and it seems he's dead, but his soul remains and that's why his body does not decay. How long do you think he's been dead my Apprentice?" Florina asked the boy as she also knelt next to InuYasha's body. She brushed some soil and leaf litter from his face and out of his hair, revealing a handsome and peaceful face. She smiled for the rumors were right, he was very handsome.

"I'd say about a year, give or take a few days. Man does he look young though! I'd say about...16 or 17 perhaps?" he inquired to the girl kneeling beside him. She looked at his face for a long time before a smile crept onto her lips and she nodded to her partner.

"I'd agree. But anyway, we can still heal him," Florina said as she rolled up her sleeves and cracked her knuckles and fingers. She tied back her long silver blue hair and looked at the boy besides her.

"Really? Perfect!" the boy said, his tail swishing excitedly at the news.

"Are you ready Shippo my boy? This will take all of our strength and ability," she said with a small smile for she knew he was, but she liked to tease him.

"Of course I am!" he said as he went and knelt above InuYasha's head and rubbed his small hands together excitedly. Florina nodded in understanding and placed her hands on InuYasha's chest as Shippo placed his on InuYasha's head. They began to chant in the ancient language thought to be dead. As they chanted, a soothing aqua glow began to engulf them. It grew thicker and brighter as their chanting grew louder. As their chanting reached its loudest peak, the aura swirled rapidly, ripping off tree limbs and splintering the stone floor beneath them before it disappeared. Their chanting stopped and the two fell backwards away from InuYasha's body in exhaustion.

"We're done…" Florina said weakly as she wiped sweat from and her brow and retied her hair back because as the aura had begun to swirl violently, her hair had come undone.

"Wow, that _**was**_ exhausting," Shippo said as he wiped sweat from his brow and then rubbed his temples in an attempt to ease the pounding in his skull.

"Yes, but we did it. All he has to do now is awaken," the ancient, but ever so young looking Soul Healer said as she rose to her feet and walked away, not looking back. Shippo took this opportunity to stay behind for he was not entirely done with the young half-breed.

"Awaken InuYasha. Some need you great hero," the young fox demon/Soul Healer whispered into InuYasha's ear before he too rose and left.

* * *

"It's been almost a year to the day Lyn and you still haven't found a new guy," Sango said as she sat down next to Lyn and looked at her friend impatiently.

"So? I'm not ready to move completely on yet Sango!" she said as she crossed her arms and pretended to concentrate on the T.V. as her mind screamed at her to listen to her friends.

"At least go to this date tonight. It might take your mind of him, if just for a little while," Matt said taking her hands. He knew it would do her good to at least try to go out and enjoy herself. He knew InuYasha would castrate him if he knew that he wasn't doing anything to help Lyn forget about him. As much as it hurt him to help in fulfilling InuYasha's demand, he knew he must. It was after all, his best friends dying wish.

"Go and have fun Lyn. He would have hated to see you so depressed," he said with a warm, yet fake, smile. One of them had to be the strong one and he knew Lyn couldn't be so it was up to him.

"Your right Matthew," she said much to Matt's surprise. He was expecting to have to argue more, but instead she kissed his cheek and ran up to her room to get changed.

"You've got a real way with words, you know that? You should teach me," Miroku said, causing Matt to blush and Sango to roll her deep brown eyes.

* * *

"Hey Hojo. It's nice to see you again," Lyn said as she got into his black Ferrari that had just pulled up in front of her house.

"Same here. You look real pretty tonight Lyn," he said as he looked at her and the way her slender figure looked in the tight black dress she had on. He was growing hard with anticipation, but pushed it out of his mind, for now anyway.

"Thanks," she said uncomfortably. He just kept staring at her and something in her was screaming for her to get out of the car and not look back. There was another side though that calmly said to just hang around and see what would go down. So she stuck around.

"Shall we go to the movies then?" she asked as she pulled her dress down over her legs more, hoping to divert his attention away from them and the thoughts and fantasies he was forming that involved them and what was above them.

"Sure, whatever you want Lyn!" he said with a weird smile.

"Um, sure Hojo…" she said putting on a fake smile, but in the back of her mind, she knew that nothing good was going to come out of this date, but she was not afraid. She was long done with fear.

* * *

"What the hell? Where am I?" InuYasha said as he opened his eyes and sat up, rubbing his head and sore neck.

"Where is everybody? And why am I talking to myself?" he said aloud as the echo of his voice bounced off the rotting stone walls of the once great Kratos's castle. He sat up straight and heard the satisfying cracks his back made as he did so.

"Your not…" replied a child's soft voice from beside him. His eyes shot open as he whipped his head to the side he thought the voice was coming from.

"Who in the seven hells are you?" he said as he spied the face a young girl of about 15 or 16 with long, silky black hair and burning gray eyes which were looking at him with intense curiosity. Her eyes held something more in them, but it was not something he cared to dwell on at the time.

"My names Kikyo, and you're InuYasha right?" she asked as she stood up and walked over to him. She had on a small smile that seemed innocent yet benevolent in nature. Those soft, red lips seemed to be died with blood, and this unnerved him.

"Yeah...but how did you get here?" he asked as he looked her over more thoroughly. He noticed that she had no usual demonic qualities and her scent was different. It was sweet, yet faint, almost as if it was borrowed.

"Shippo and Florina sent me to here to keep an eye on you," she said softly, brushing a strand of silk-like hair from her milky face. Her eyes burned brighter as she said the names of the two who had brought him back from the brink.

"Shippo and Florina? Aren't those the Spirit Healers that are supposed to be myth?" he asked as he stretched, it felt as if he hadn't moved in years. She sat down next to him and crossed her legs under her white kimono. It had red threads running across it, like rivers of blood. It made her seem more like a ghost than of a living thing.

"Yeah, they brought you back," she said as she eyed in, falling into almost a trance as she traced his body with her eyes. He felt her strong gaze and turned towards her. Her answer had intrigued him, but her gaze and presence still had him on edge. There was something odd about her.

"Back from were?" he asked as he looked at her wearily. He had not interest in her or her words really; he just wanted to have a good meal and a long stretch without her constant staring.

"From the dead. Well not exactly dead, I'd say you were more like stuck," she said, finally breaking her gaze from him. She looked around the castle, as if finally bored with his presence. He breathed a silent sigh of relief, but then her words struck him. He tilted his head some and furrowed his white eyebrows in an attempt to make sense of her statement.

"Stuck?" he said for he was still a bit dazed and highly confused.

"Dead, again? But I feel just a bit sore and chilly. This chick must be have a few screws loose," he thought to himself, for the event that happened just a year ago was still a bit fuzzy. He ran his talons across the jagged scar above his heart and he remembered pain, anger, and immense sadness. He shook his head and brought himself under control.

"Yeah, you were torn between life and death. Your body was dead but your soul refused to leave," she said in a monotone voice. She had gotten up and had wandered over to a nearby window where she now sat and gazed out of.

"Oh. Ummm, next time you see them, say thanks for me," he said as he stood up and stretched some more. He once again felt her gaze upon him and he turned towards her. She had a soft, tantalizing gaze and her eyes were half-closed, as if she was lost in some sort of fantasy.

"Kikyo?" he called to her and when she heard her name and saw that he had noticed her staring at him, she turned a light shade of pink and looked way, but pointed to him. When she did that he was confused at first, but he then looked down and noticed that he had no shirt on and his pants were considerably ripped which showed off his lack of 'undergarments'. He then realized that she had been gazing at him and that her fantasy had probably involved him somehow; he grunted in amusement at her stare.

"Oh. Well do you have any extra clothes I can borrow?" he asked, knowing full well she probably hadn't. But it never hurt to ask.

"Over in the corner…" she said, much to his surprise. She pointed to a pair of baggy jeans, a pair of black Converse, a pair of new black and red boxers; a long red belt, a plain black shirt, and a long black trench coat were all neatly folded in a corner**.**

"It's as if she had been expecting me to wake up. I wonder how long she has been watching me for," he thought to himself. It was an unpleasant thought, so he just brushed it off.

"Thanks," he finally said as he walked over to his new wardrobe. He had just pulled on his shirt when she said something surprised him. He turned his head around to see her and his eyes probed her for answers.

"So, are you gonna go back to the miko's time?" she said, with a hint of what seemed like jealousy in her voice.

"How did you know about Lyn?" he said as she flashed into his mind. Those emerald eyes, her soft raven hair and her intoxicating scent where thrown into the forefront of his mind, and it hurt him deeply. But he remained stoic.

"I'm a apprentice Soul Healer so I can see into your soul and read it. And yes, you have a soul, surprisingly enough. Unlike me," she said with a bit of unwarranted sarcasm, but also sadness, in her voice.

"Oh...that's a nice ability," he said, ignoring her last comment. He turned his back to her again and continued dressing, even though he could hear Lyn's voice in his head and still feel her tears on his skin.

"So are you?" she said, even though already knew the answer. She poked at him though, because his answer was not going to be good enough. For her it was what she wanted, but for her masters, Florina and Shippo, it had to be changed, and she had to change it.

"No…" he said as he zipped up his pants and turned his head so that he could see her over his shoulder. His thoughts began to fight again, as one told him to stay here with the beautiful girl in the room while the other said to go back to the beautiful girl on the other side. He breathed a heavy sigh, for at least in dying he had felt sane.

"Why? You want her again, don't you?" but Kikyo knew that he didn't just want her, he needed her to make him feel alive, but she kept this to herself. It was his job to finally understand, with no help from her or death this time.

"I guess. That's why I'm not going…" he said solemnly. He snorted at his own words as the volume in his head began to pick up again. Too much pain and damage had been done already.

"That sounds stupid; if you want her then you _**HAVE **_to go back. You said that you caused her too much pain, but there is no worse pain than the loss of love," she said quietly. She saw his ears droop and his posture slouch as her words drilled into him.

"This is insane; I don't have to go back to her! This is her fault in the first place!" one side of him yelled.

"No, you have to go back you fool! You know you love her! Now listen to the young one, go back!" the other side yelled back. He grabbed his head and dug his claws into his scalp as he shook his head vigorously. The voices became scrambled and ceased. He would go back, but on his own free will, not because of the insanity happening inside of him.

"...for a little kid, you make a good point," he said, trying to sound cool and collected.

"Thanks. So I'm guessing your going back then?" she said as a sense of accomplishment and loss filled her.

"Yeah, I guess I am, _I do need a good lovin' _" he thought as he nodded his head yes to her question. But something in the back of his mind yelled at him _that's not the only reason _he _want to see her again_. He just brushed it off as he did the familiar sensation that swept through him when the voice spoke. He would ignore both voices until they both went away or one just vanished. He hoped that one of the two would happen soon.

"OK, then I can take you there faster," she said as she walked up to him. Her steps seemed heavier and less graceful as they did when he first met her, but it meant little to him.

"What do you mean?" he said to her as he threw the trench coat on. He fixed the collar with a quick tug and cracked his neck. He felt more alive now, and his faced twitched a small smile before he looked at her.

"Take my hand and I'll show you…" she said as she held out a small white hand for him to hold. She did not look at him though; instead she looked out into the large empty space of the abandoned castle.

"OK…" he said, a hint of uneasiness tinted his voice as he grabbed the girls' hand. He felt a rush of energy fill him and before he knew it, he was in front of the well in the forest.

"How did you do that?" he said as he shook his head and steadied himself. He breathed in the scent of the trees and then he smelled something familiar. It was Lyn's scent, it was faint, but it was there and it led to the well. He opened his eyes and looked down at the smiling Soul Healer at his side.

"A magician never revels her secrets! Oh, and if you ever need help again, just say my name," she said as an aqua mist enveloped her and she was gone. He looked at the spot she had just been and shook his head, a small grin played on his lips before he turned towards the well and walked over it. He looked into it and saw the darkness that made it seem as if it had no bottom.

"...well, here goes nothing…" he said as he took one last look around his home realm, and jumped in.

* * *

"Now where is she?" InuYasha said as he sniffed the warm October air. He was perched in a thick oak tree in a park. He climbed towards the bottom and as the wind shifted, he caught her scent and was about to take off in her direction when he realized that he didn't exactly fit in. He reached up and touched his white ears and growled in frustration.

"Damn, how do I cover my ears?" he said, rubbing his chin in thought. Then he saw a young Japanese man walking his way and he got an idea.

"This will do just fine," he said as he pulled a black ball cap off of the unsuspecting guy, lifting him off his feet a few feet and then dropping him onto his butt. The young man looked up and saw only yellow eyes peering down at him from the shadows of the trees. He bolted up and ran, and InuYasha could smell that he had wet himself. InuYasha smirked as he fashioned the cap so it fit snugly on his head and pulled some of his silvery white hair in front of his face.

"Enough with the fun," he told himself as he caught a whiff of Lyn's scent again, and this time he jumped from the trees and took off, leaving only a few scattered leaves in his wake.

* * *

"Hojo?" Lyn said as she pushed some scraps of food around her plate without looking up. She didn't want to lock eyes with the boy who was staring at her.

"Yes Lyn?" Hojo said as he continued to stare at her. His deep brown eyes pierced her and his mind swam with fantasies and desire.

"Could you stop staring at me and eat? Please?" she said as she finally looked up at him. His eyes made her uncomfortable, but his smile was entrancing. She gave him a small, uncomfortable smile of her own.

"I can't! Your beauty is entrancing," he said as placed a hand on hers, sending chills down her spine. His touch was clammy and it made her skin crawl so she slid her hand out from under his and smiled again, more awkwardly this time.

"Thanks Hojo, but its making me a bit uncomfortable," she said as she looked back down at her food, but she could still feel his eyes on her. It made her want to scream.

"I'm sorry Lyn dear," he as he wiped his mouth and stood up and walked behind her chair, pulling it out a bit so she could too get up.

"What are you doing?" she said as she looked up at him. His gaze had hardened a bit, and when she looked into those eyes it was like looking into the eyes of a madman. She seemed frozen to the spot.

"I was gonna ask you if you would like to come with me for a drive," he said as he offered her his hand. His palms were dry this time, she noticed as she looked at the hand he was offering. She stared it and then at him, not sure of what was really going on.

"Ummm," she stammered, unsure of what to do.

"Y_ou've got no way to get home Lyn, just go,"_ the little voice in her head whispered. She frowned mentally before she let out a soft sigh and looked up at the boy who was all but obsessed with her.

"Sure Hojo," she finally said as she put on a fake smile and took his hand. She cringed as she felt the warm clamminess of it, wondering how his hands were always so dry, but clammy at this same time.

"OK then, off we go," he said smiling, still staring at her, as the walked to his car.

"Where are we going Hojo? I don't recognize this place," Lyn said as she looked out her window at a part of town she didn't recognize. A sick realization swept over her as she began to panic. The sickening clamminess of his hands, his eyes, it all made sense now. How could she be so stupid!

"You should...this is your new home!" he said as he locked the doors and looked over at her as he pulled over and turned off the car. His eyes were wide with sickening pleasure and his smile had horrible intentions behind it.

"What?" she said as she moved away from the advancing Hojo. She knew what he meant though, and that knowledge seeped into her muscles and bones and seemed to paralyze her.

"I need you Lyn, and since you won't come with me, I'll just take you!" he said as he shoved a cloth over her nose and mouth. She fought, but became tired and slowly drifted off into unconsciousness. As she was drifting away into unconsciousness, she thought she saw something large land in a nearby tree. It couldn't be, she thought as she finally drifted off.

"You look so beautiful when you sleep my beauty," Hojo whispered to her as he carried her into an abandoned warehouse that stood in the middle of the woods.

* * *

"What is she doing here?" InuYasha thought to himself as he stopped in a tree in front of the warehouse. He watched as the lights in the warehouse flipped on and he tried to see further into the building, but the windows were old and dirt coated, blocking his vision. This only heightened his other senses.

"Hang on...who's scent is that? Another males!" he thought as he felt a stab of jealousy run though his heart. InuYasha growled deeply as he jumped down from the tree and walked over to the warehouse doors. He peeked into the slightly ajar door and his amber eyes widened in astonishment.

"What is he doing to her? Are those chains!" he thought as he saw Hojo wrap Lyn's arms with chains and then lock those chains to the wall. He was about to go rip Hojo's face off when he caught himself.

"Hold on InuYasha boy, you cant just bust in there, she thinks your dead remember? Just hang back and see what's happening, maybe it some sort of kinky…sexual…thing" he told himself, clenching his teeth as he said the last part. But he held back reluctantly and watched.

* * *

"Wakey, wakey sleepy head!" Hojo said as he stared at the girl of his which he had just kidnapped and chained to an abandoned warehouse wall.

"InuYasha…" Lyn said as she opened her eyes. She had dreamt that she was wrapped in InuYasha's arms and that he hadn't died. She instead opened her eyes only to find Hojo standing in front of her with a pissed expression on his face.

"No, not InuYasha you stupid bitch!" he spat as he punched her in the stomach. The force lifted her off her feet.

***ooofff*** "Hojo…" she gasped as she fell to her knees, trying to catch her breath.

"That's right my dear. Welcome home…" he said as he ran his hand across her delicate face, tracing her features.

"No...let me go you crazy bastard!" she screamed as she kicked at him, barely missing his crotch. He smiled a sick smile and laughed as he saw the fierce anger in her eyes. He liked a woman with a little fire, so he would just beat out what he didn't want.

"Ooohhh, you're gonna pay for that my dear," he said as he raised his hand and slapped her. He felt her warm blood on his hand as he struck her and felt the metallic, sweet taste of it as he licked it off his hand. He looked back down at her hungrily and then preceded to beat her, getting more and more aroused with each blow.

"There, now we'll behave right?" he said as he rubbed his sore and blood spattered knuckles. He could feel his erection and he closed his eyes and let the intense feeling wash over him. He looked back down at 'his' wench and moaned slightly.

"...yes…" she said as she fell to her knees, blood trickling from the her mouth and nose. She knew that he had broken her nose and a few of her ribs, but she wouldn't give him the sick satisfaction he desired by showing her pain. She saw his erection and felt the urge to bite it off.

"Good girl," he said as he grabbed her chin and raised her head, but she just turned away. She could feel him rubbing his hard-on and it made her stomach turn.

"I'll just let you stay there for awhile before I come back to finish what I started," he whispered in her ear before he stood up, cracking his knuckles as he did, and walked away.

* * *

"He beat her! I can't let him keep doing this to her, I can't even believe I let that happen! I'm going in…" InuYasha growled to himself as he snuck in, anger swelling in him.

"If he touches her again, I'll kill him," he thought as he flexed his claws and growled lightly as he perched himself on a loft that overlooked the whole warehouse and waited.

* * *

"I'm back my love!" Hojo cooed as he walked over to Lyn, and this time, he carried a knife.

"What are you gonna do with that Hojo?" Lyn asked as tears welled up in her bruised eyes. She hadn't shown him any pain or emotion thus far, but she couldn't take much more. He was going to break her and she was powerless to stop him.

"I'm gonna brand you of course! Silly girl," he chuckled as he backhanded her and ripped off the already tattered top of her black dress. The bruised skin of her chest was exposed and the curves of her supple breast beneath her bra made him burn on the inside. He swallowed deeply and shivered in anticipation.

"Now, this will only hurt for a few hours," he said as he brought the knife down to her soft skin, right above her heart. He was about to draw the first drop of her sweet blood when he heard and unearthly growl form behind him. He froze as he heard an accompanying voice.

"Let her go," InuYasha said, disguising his voice the best he could so that Lyn wouldn't know it was him. She couldn't know; not yet.

"What? Who are you? No matter, I'll kill you and have her watch." Hojo said as he regained his composure and unsheathed a saber which he was wearing. He held it to his side and glared at InuYasha.

"Cute sword there Hojo…" InuYasha said in a cocky way. He wanted to make Hojo mad enough that he would charge him, initiating a fight.

"Cute! Now you'll pay!" Hojo said as he ran at InuYasha. No one insulted him and got away with it. He charged, but missed as InuYasha moved swiftly out of the way. The fight seemed to go on forever, with Hojo charging and InuYasha dodging, occasionally giving Hojo a shove in the process. Hojo finally had enough though and ran over to Lyn and held the sword to her throat. He figured out by now that this man, or whatever he was, was here for her. So he would get rid of both his problems in a simple way.

"I'll just kill her then," he said out loud as he pulled the sword from her throat and stabbed her in the back. Lyn's eyes widened in shock and pain as she saw the tip of the saber appear through her stomach. She coughed blood and staggered forward.

"_**LYN**_**!**" InuYasha yelled as Hojo pulled the sword out of her body. He smiled to himself at how easy it would be to kill the grief stricken man now, but when he turned back to face InuYasha, he nearly screamed. InuYasha's eyes were huge and red and a long purple stripe ran across each cheek. His claws were long and sharp and his mouth was open in a hideous snarl as he stared at Hojo.

"What are you?" Hojo said shakily as the saber he was holding began to tremble. He looked at the snarling beast before him and his life rushed before his eyes.

"Your worst nightmare!" InuYasha said as he rushed at Hojo, but as he did, Hojo stabbed him through the stomach. But this didn't slow him any, he just pulled himself farther up on the sword until he was nose to nose with Hojo. He then took his claws and slashed Hojo's face off. InuYasha pulled out the sword and stood there, panting heavily and tasting the bitter copper of his blood in his mouth. He just spat it out on Hojo's corpse. His demon side had taken over and would have stayed in control if it wouldn't have been hit from behind that sent him falling on his face; hard.

Lyn stood above the demonic thing that had saved her from Hojo. After being stabbed, Lyn had felt that same strange pounding in her head and the next thing she knew she was free of the chains and he wounds were gone. Although she didn't know how she had broken free or had healed herself, she knew she was scared of InuYasha for she didn't know what or who he was.

"Demons must have found a way into my time through the well. But why come after me?" she thought to herself as she looked down at the demon's body. She huffed in confusion and annoyance.

"What do you want demon? Tell me!" she commanded to the demon at her feet, but he remained quite as he raised himself onto his hands and knees. His head hung down and for the first time, she noticed his long, silvery white hair. A painful memory hit her dead on and made her bite her lip to stop the tears that threatened to fall. Now was not the time for a trip down memory lane.

"I said tell me!" she yelled as she kicked him, causing his body to jerk upward. He grunted, stifling the howl of pain he wanted to release, and he fell on his face again.

"What are you? A demon or a coward?" she said as she kicked him again. She was growing more impatience and annoyed at the demon's silence. She had seen him tear off Hojo's face and she wanted him to show her the same anger. She kicked again, harder this time. Instead of grunting or howling, he let out no noise as he lifted himself onto his hands and knees again, shakily.

"What's wrong with him? Why isn't he attacking me?" she thought to herself, but as she looked down at him she saw a pool of blood were he was just laying and noticed blood on her shoe. A stab of guilt hit her. He had after all saved her.

"Did I do that demon?" she said softly, still feeling a bit guilty. She hadn't meant to hurt him that bad, honest. He just shook his head though, and stood, holding his stomach though it didn't do much good as the blood seeped though his clawed hand. She could see blood trickling out of the corner of his mouth, the only thing that wasn't hidden by his hat and long white hair. As he turned toward her, she thought she saw a glimmer of amber, but she looked harder and saw nothing.

"Don't come any closer," Lyn said as he staggered forward a bit before he steadied himself. He just turned away from her, but he stopped to look over his shoulder at her, the hat still covering his eyes. He looked away again and suddenly jumped up and onto one of the ledges of an open window. He tried to steady himself against the widow frame, but the jump had taken to much out of him and he fell out of it as he tried to jump away. As he hit the ground she heard a solid thud and winced at it.

"He wasn't trying to hurt me, he saved me," she said to herself as she looked over at Hojo's corpse. She frowned slightly at the corpse and shook her head and then another realization hit her.

"I kicked him! Oh man!" she said as she ran out of the factory that had almost become her tomb and over to the demon who had risked its life to save her. She saw the demon laying face down in the dirt which was slowly becoming black as his blood pooled where he lay. As she knelt down to his side, she gently rolled him over, seeing his hand covering the wound. She slowly moved his hand away from it and saw how bad it was. It was deep and she saw that the demon was breathing heavily and as she placed a hand over his heart, she felt it beating faster and faster. The heavy breathing and fast heartbeat were not all due to the wound he suffered, but also because her familiar, intoxicating scent and soft, gentle touch were bringing forth long lost emotions and memories.

"I can heal this with no problem," she thought to herself as she looked down at him. He wasn't resisting her touch and she felt a draw to him, but she gritted her teeth at the thought of feeling anything for anyone, especially a demon. It hurt to much and she didn't want to hurt anymore. But she owed this one demon her life, so she sighed and forced a small smile to her lips.

"Demon? Do you wish me to heal you?" she asked as she felt his unseen eyes on her. Even though she couldn't see his eyes, she imagined they would be red or black and unfeeling, and this sent a shiver down her spine. He didn't say a word to her question, but as she went to remove his hat, he grabbed her wrist and shook his head. He propped himself up on his elbows after letting her go, allowing his long white hair to fall around him, and that's when she noticed it was staining red.

"Do you want me to heal you?" she asked again as she wiped blood off his chin. She was beginning to think that maybe he wasn't such a big bad demon after all. But who was he?

He shook his head as he tried to sit up, bringing her back to reality. But as he tried, he fell back to the ground. She thought she heard a sigh or grunt come from him, one that was eerily familiar. She frowned as he went to try to get back up. This time, though, she held him down by pushing him gently on his shoulder. She could feel him glare at her from behind his curtain of hair. She smiled inwardly at finally getting some sort of response from him.

"You remind me of someone I used to know with your stubbornness. Just lie still and let me heal you for Christ Sake!" she said roughly as she felt his gaze soften and he moved his hand that held his wounded body and allowed her to heal him. It had been so long since she had healed anyone and the sensation that swept through her was a welcome one. It made her feel needed again.

"There, much better right? I couldn't heal it all, but I got the worst of it," she said as she as finished and saw the wound had healed dramatically though it was still relatively bad. InuYasha sat up and looked at her with a small, guarded smile. He saw that she was still topless and this made him blush slightly. He thanked the gods she hadn't seen him smile or blush as he took off his black trench coat and gave it to her, surprising her a bit with the gesture. He then took off the bloody remains of his shirt and tossed them aside and looked at his wound. What she hadn't been able to heal was already beginning to heal on its own. It was still red and jagged, but no longer posed him much of a problem. With the amount of movement he was about to do though, he thought that he might have to worry about it again in the future. But there were more important things to worry about right now.

"Thanks…" she muttered, growing red with embarrassment at remembering she was topless. She put on the trench and stood up as he held his hand out to her. She just looked at him with her brows furrowed in confusion.

"What?" she asked, a bit confused still. She still didn't completely trust him, although that feeling was slowly declining the more time she spent with him. He was different, she thought; but why so familiar? She was teasing herself with the notion that it could be _HIM_, but she knew deep down that that would never happen. It hurt her as she remembered his words. She shook her head softly as she looked back up at him.

"Don't you want to go home?" he said softly, his lips parted in a small grin that showed a few of his white fangs that glistened in the moon light. She nearly gasped at the sight, it was just like **_HIM_**. But no, she had to stop doing this to herself. Perhaps this was all a bad dream and should would wake up soon. She knew better though.

"Oh, yeah…" she said as she took his hand with hesitation, and in one sweeping movement, he had placed her on his back. She clung to him, and as she did she smelled his scent and she felt tears in her eyes. It smelled just like him. Maybe this demon was sent here to torture her, either way, after tonight it might be ok to die. The pain of his memory was to much to bear anymore.

"Hold on…" he said as he took off into the tree tops toward Lyn's house. She did not ask why or how he knew the way, but instead buried her face into his long mane and waited for whatever would come next. Somehow she knew it would be OK; but how she asked herself. How could it?

* * *

"So, where'd you come from?" Lyn asked as she held onto him for dear life. The ride was fairly smooth, but his movements and pace were fast and she had nothing to hold onto so she wrapped her arms around his neck, making it hard for her to get a good grip. He said nothing in response to her question as he soared through the trees of Japan towards the house he knew so well.

"Ok then, at least tell me your name," she asked, hoping to start some sort of conversation, get some sort of information out of him. He instead remained silent but inside he wanted to tell her and kiss her, which surprised and scared him. He shouldn't feel this way towards anyone, let alone a mortal girl. He yearned though, so much that it began to hurt.

"Here's my stop!" she said as he stopped and jumped down from the tree. He knew it was, but he allowed her to direct him because he loved the sound of her voice. It was like music to him. His landing was flawless, despite the fact that he landed right in front of Matthew, Sango, and Miroku.

"Whoa, Lyn! Whose the hell is this and where's Hojo?" Sango asked, taking a startled step back. She may have been a demon hunter once, but her reflexes were not what they used to be and this sudden appearance surprised her.

"This is the demon that saved my life tonight. I don't know his name or anything, but I owe him," she said as she dismounted and stood besides him. As she went to give him a grateful smile though, she saw that he was holding his stomach, which was bleeding once again. He felt her concerned eyes on him and he looked at her through his silver curtain and grunted in understanding. She would heal him again he knew, and this time, he wouldn't protest.

"Oh, um, sure. We were just coming over to see if you were home. So, tell us what in the hells happened, especially the part about this big guy. He looks pretty beat up. I bet he's like a war lord back in the feudal era or something. How intriguing! I must see your face to know for sure!" Miroku exclaimed as he ran up to InuYasha and tried to take his hat off. He instead found himself raised off the ground at eye level with InuYasha, who growled menacingly at the monk. Miroku, instead of heading InuYasha's warning, instead tried to remove the hat again. This time he found himself smashed up against a tree as the others walked into Lyn's house without him.

"Owwwww!" he moaned as he sat up, rubbed his bruised back and ribs, and walked in after the others.


	7. Reintroducing InuYasha

**Authors Note: Sorry it took sooo long to update, but I'm sure those of you who have read it will like the fact that i am publishing two new chapters today. This one's a long one so enjoy!**

* * *

_**Reintroducing InuYasha**_

**Ch. 7**

"Wow, he was off his rocker! It's a good thing this demon over here was there and that your mom isn't home," Sango said as she bit into a ham sandwich. She watched the demon out of the corner of her eye, making sure he didn't try anything funny. He may have saved Lyn's life, but that didn't change what he was or the fact no one knew why he was even here.

"Tell me about it, she would kill me if I brought someone like him home and she would never believe me about Hojo!" Lyn said as she finished wrapping InuYasha's wound. Even though they were mostly healed, it was a force of habit for her to clean and dress wounds as she now had a job at the local hospital. He didn't complain as she did it, he liked being near her, to feel and smell her.

"So you're still single, right Lyn?" Miroku said as he scooted over to her and placed an arm around her shoulder. He gave her a sly smile but stopped when he heard a growl from behind him. He turned his head to see InuYasha leaning against the banister of the stairs.

"When did he get up and why is he growling at me? What did I do?" Miroku thought before he heard Sango shouting at him.

"But _**you're**_ not anymore you perverted monk!" Sango said as she grabbed him by his ear and pulled him over by her. He whimpered as he rubbed his ear and put an arm around Sango who gave him a pleased smile.

"Ummm, Mr. Demon sir? Could you go upstairs and take a nap or something so I could talk to my friends? Please?" Lyn said with a smile on her face. InuYasha grunted and walked up the stairs, disappearing into the shadows.

"Did you hear him growl at Miroku? I wonder what he wants and why he's protective of you Lyn. Almost like InuYasha…" Sango said, her mind beginning to wander to all of the possibilities, both good and bad.

"I know, but we all know that's not possible. The part of him being InuYasha that is," Lyn said as she sighed and looked down at her hands. Why did they have to bring him up? They all knew it wasn't possible. This night was going to be longer than she suspected if they continued on this topic.

"Why Lyn? It happened once already?" Sango asked as she snuggled up next to Miroku. She saw Lyn's eyes grow cloudy as she remembered her first and last time in the feudal era. As she watched tears gather in her best friend's eyes, she was sorry she even brought his name up at all.

"Because he told me to forget about him. He won't be coming back again. No magic spells, miko powers or wishing will bring him back this time so please, lets not talk about it anymore," she said as she looked away from everyone, brushing a single tear as it fell from her beryl colored eye. She turned back to her friends and saw the pain on all of their faces, but as she turned to Matt, she saw he hurt the most. He never really forgave himself for what he had done to his old friend and blamed himself constantly for his death. Bringing up InuYasha only reopened his old wounds.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean any harm," Sango said as she lowered her head, ashamed about not thinking before opening her mouth. She missed InuYasha deeply, but she could never miss him as much as both Lyn and Matt did and her words just made their miss and guilt drive deeper into their already scarred hearts.

"I need to use the bathroom. I'll be back," Matthew said quietly as he got up and walked up the stairs to the bathroom. He didn't want any of them to see him cry, but when he looked back at Lyn as walked up the stairs, he saw she knew and felt the same and it made him feel better, but it could never make it go away. Nothing ever could.

* * *

"Man, she's gotten so much sexier and I miss her. I hate to admit it, but I do," InuYasha thought to himself as he looked into the bathroom mirror, rubbing the blood out of his hair. He growled slightly as he saw it wasn't coming out as well as he had hoped. On top of that, he was bleeding again. He just shook his head and poured some more shampoo on his hair and rubbed harder.

"I wish I could tell them all. The hurt in them all, I can see it. Maybe it wasn't for the best. _**NO**_! It was, now stop questioning yourself!" he said aloud as he slammed his fists onto the porcelain sink counter. He sighed and was about to fix his bandages when his ears twitched. He had heard someone gasp and when he whirled around to see who it was, he found Matthew gapping at him.

"Matthew!" he growled, half shocked at seeing his best friend and half pissed that he had snuck up on him before he could hide his appearance again. Instead of running like he expected, the thief just stood there, staring at him in disbelief.

"InuYasha?" he finally said as InuYasha slammed a hand over his mouth.

"_**SSSSHHHH**_! What do you think your doing up here?" InuYasha hissed into Matt's ear as he dragged him into the nearest room, which just happened to be Lyn's bedroom. As he dragged the still stunned boy into the room, her scent assaulted his senses and he quickly let go of Matt causing to him to fall on his backside.

"I…I…how…?" Matthew said as he stared up at his old friends saffron eyes. This couldn't be possible. He saw him die; he saw the sword go through his heart. He _**SAW**_! This had to be a trick. It had to be; but he knew better.

"You came up here to cry?" InuYasha asked as he smelt a tinge of salt in the air and looked into Matthew's watery eyes from his seat on Lyn's bed. Matt let the tears fall freely from the corners of his chestnut colored eyes and down the sides of his face as he stared at the sight he had longed to see for a year now. As he stared, the guilt and anguish began to drain out of him, tear by tear. InuYasha still hadn't told him how, but that would come in due time. Right now he had a more important question.

"Why don't you want anyone to know?" Matthew asked through the tears. He raised one of his arms, which felt like led, and wiped away some of the tears that had begun to dry.

"I don't want to put Lyn and you guys in danger anymore. From now on I'll watch everyone from a distance and make sure no harm comes to you that way," InuYasha said as he got up and helped Matt to his feet. He sat back down on the bed again and breathed in her scent as he felt Matthew sit next to him.

"_Yeah, I don't want to mess up her body, I need it_, _even if I have to undress it from afar_," one part of him said.

"_That's not why you truly need her,_" said the other. The voice that had once been in command was dying away more and more every time it spoke and the softer, compassionate filled one was louder and louder now. He was beginning to believe that one more and more now. It gave him hope, it made him feel alive; it made him _**FEEL**_.

"She needs you though. Ever since you di…left, she's been so depressed," Matt said, avoiding the _**D **_word. He wasn't sure what to call what had happened to InuYasha so he opted for something less dramatic sounding. Though the entire incident itself was more than dramatic could ever hope to be.

"I thought I told her to forget about me," InuYasha said, frustration edging his voice.

"_You knew she wouldn't. She loves you and needs you, like you need her. Don't you see that yet!"_ his mind screamed at him. He noticed that there was no interjection from the other voice and he felt at peace because of that, but the new voice was commanding and confusing. Love, what is love?

"She can't, no one can! Did you actually think she would?" Matt said, breaking InuYasha out of his new inner struggle. He turned and saw Matt looking at him like him like he was stupid. What was his problem, Matt thought. He can't really be that naïve, could he?

"Well...yeah," InuYasha said as he ran his claws through his tangled mane of hair. **GOD DAMNIT**! What was he to do?

"Well, I know how we can tell her! Give me your hat!" Matt said holding his hands out, waiting.

"It's in the bathroom still. What are you gonna do?" InuYasha asked as Matt took out his ivory handled, black bladed pocket knife and headed for the bathroom. Without an answer, InuYasha just went back to inhaling Lyn's scent and looking around her room. Not much had changed in the last year he thought, but when he looked at her vanity, he saw there was a picture frame on it that had never been there before. He got up off the bed and walked over to it and picked it up. He looked down at a familiar picture of him and Lyn, before he was hit by the car. He was looking away from the camera, his arms folded and a scowl on his face. Then he looked at her and he saw that she wasn't looking at the camera either. She was looking at him with her arm looped through one of his crossed ones. Her eyes though, had a glimmer of something in them he had only seen in a dream long ago; or was it a dream? As he stared at her in the picture, he felt something deep in the pit of his stomach and in his heart. His head spun as he was hit simultaneously by both sensations. He gripped the vanity with one hand and tightened his hold on the picture, and then he partially realized something.

"Love?" he questioned the air around him quietly as he heard Matt walking back into the room. In his hands he held a roll of bandages and InuYasha's hat, which now had two holes in the top. Matt had a big smile on his face as he handed the altered hat to the hanyuo.

"Now put it on," Matt said as he started to unroll the bandages.

"Whatever," InuYasha said gruffly. As he put it on his ears poked up from the holes in it and Matt sat next to him. He cracked his fingers and started to wrap bandages around InuYasha's protruding white ears.

"Ow! Be careful! ***hmmph* **what's your big idea anyway Matt?" InuYasha said, eyeing him curiously as he finished wrapping the ears, giving the half-breed an apologetic look before he stood up and admired his handy work. He nodded his head in self-approval and looked down at InuYasha.

"Just come with me, I have a plan," he said as he grabbed InuYasha's wrist and pulled him off the bed. InuYasha was a bit surprised at Matt's strength, but just pulled away and huffed. Matt turned to him and motioned for him to hurry up and follow.

"Fine, fine. Jeesh, so pushy," InuYasha said as he followed Matt's lead down the dark stairs and back down to their friends.

* * *

Lyn was lost in her world of memories, regrets, and other things when she felt Sango' eyes on her. They were prying into her, wanting to ask many questions but Lyn knew what Sango really wanted to ask. She looked at her friend and nodded, allowing her to ask. Lyn knew she had to start letting go, no matter how much it hurt.

"You still miss him even though he told you to forget about him, don't you?" Sango asked as she hesitantly bit into another sandwich. Food was her comfort after Miroku, and the taste of the sweet honey ham helped her get out the questions she wanted to desperately ask her hurting friend.

"He did tell me to forget, but I can't. I loved him Sango and I still do. I always will," she said softly. She would no longer cry over it. Matt was right, InuYasha would be outraged at how weak she was. She had to be strong, for both of them. If she really loved him, she would begin to let him go. That thought sent horrible pains shooting through her heart.

"I know, but it's for your own good. Matt?" Sango said, pausing as she eyed him and InuYasha on the stairs. She noted the changes in the demon's appearance and also the notable upbeat change in Matt's attitude. This night just kept getting weirder and weirder she thought.

"Yes Sango?" Matt answered a cheery note in his voice. InuYasha felt like smacking his younger friend in the back of the head. If he didn't start acting like nothing had changed, everyone would suspect and InuYasha wasn't ready to confront everyone. Not yet. First things first.

"Why is that demon following you?" she asked, caution and suspicion edging her voice. She wasn't sure what had taken place upstairs from them and she silently cursed herself for allowing Matt to go upstairs unattended while their unknown guest lurked upstairs as well.

"Oh, he is? Well I guess it's 'cuz he likes me," Matt said with a sarcastic smile, which quickly left his face. He had picked up on InuYasha's mood at his previous attitude and quickly changed it to one more somber, hiding his excitement. The comment still made Inuyasha growl menacingly though. He was in no mode for fun and games, even if it was all an act.

"Right…" Matt said in response to the hanyuo's growl and hurried down the stairs. He sat down on the far end of the couch and looked up at InuYasha who still lingered on the stairs. He could feel his old friend's eyes on him, and then felt his gaze shift over to Lyn. He smiled inwardly to himself as he looked away and sighed.

"Come on, we won't bite. Although I'm not so sure about you," Miroku called to InuYasha, snapping him out of trance. He walked down the stairs and sat down next to Lyn, as Matt suspected he would.

"What's with the bandages, are they covering something. Like ears, or horns maybe?" Sango said eyeing the bandages with growing suspicion. She didn't like all of the surprises that came along with this new arrival. Just then, the bandages twitched, and she got her answer.

"Ears," she said as she looked away from him while still keeping a watchful eye on him. As Sango brought attention to the new bandages, Lyn looked up at them, just in time to see them twitch. Her face went slack as she felt herself go numb. She looked away and began to tremble. Sango made a move to go to her, but Miroku tightened his grip on her. She looked up at him, and he shook his head. She sighed heavily as she understood that Lyn needed to deal with it on her own. She wouldn't always be there to cradle Lyn when she felt the pain, and as much as it upset her to not go to her friend, in the long run, it was for the best.

"Just like…" Lyn said as she trailed off and tears began to well up in her eyes. The pain in her heart had never been this great before. Not even when she had first come to terms with his death. Why was this thing or whatever he was here? It had to be to hurt her, to maim her, to kill her. It had to be, because he had already succeeded. Inside she was all but dead.

"I think it's time to leave guys," Matt said as he got up from the couch, bowed to Lyn and InuYasha and went over to Sango and Miroku. He saw that Sango was going to protest leaving Lyn here with such an untrustworthy, inhuman stranger. He gave her a Trust-Me-Would you look and she sighed and shook her head. She got up and she too bowed to her friend, and reluctantly, to the demon who sat beside her.

"We'll see _**BOTH**_ of you tomorrow," Sango said as she led Miroku out the door followed by Matt. Before leaving, Matt turned around and gave InuYasha thumbs up before he closed the door behind him. InuYasha just shook his head and looked down at the woman beside him and sighed, not really knowing what the rest of the night would hold.

* * *

The two sat on the couch, and that's when she began to cry. InuYasha jumped, startled at the sudden change in her. One moment she was Ok and watching TV and the next she was sobbing almost uncontrollably. He had never seen this side of her before and he didn't like it.

"Oh demon!" she cried as she grabbed onto him. She began to cry into his bare chest and savored the heat of his skin. She didn't care if he was here to kill her, she needed the momentary comfort.

His heart skipped a beat as he felt her tears on his skin and her warm hands on his chest. It sent familiar chills across his being and he swallowed hard, trying to resist the urge to kiss her, to comfort her. Yet he hated to see her cry, so he hugged her tightly against him. It was torture to him to have her so close, but so far from his grasp. But if he had to hurt to ease her pain, then he would hurt.

"Don't cry Lyn..." he said, still disguising his voice. He felt her pull away from him suddenly. He looked into her eyes; those familiar jade seas that always calmed him were now burning with anger, sadness, and pain. He was shocked and confused. What had he done?

"Don't patronize me damnit! I know you're here to kill me so just do it already! I can't deal with this pain and torture you're putting me through! You make my hurt and miss so much worse! So just do it!" she yelled, grabbing his clawed hands and placing them around her delicate white throat. He was shell shocked! Kill her, what in the gods was she talking about? He looked at her; her eyes were closed tight and her head was tilted back, waiting for him to either cut her throat or to choke the life out of her. He growled angrily as he took his hand from her throat and grabbed her shoulders, pulling her into him. He felt her gasp as she felt his warm chest against her face. She grabbed his arms that were encircling her and dug her nails into his skin and cried. Why wasn't he ending her?

"I would never kill you, stupid wench!" he growled, hugging her tighter. She un-dug her nails from his arms and scooted up to him more. She knew he wasn't going to hurt her, she always knew, but part of her wanted him too.

"But it hurts so much. I can't stop thinking of and missing him. I promised I would but I just can't," she said softly, her breath caressing his bare chest, drying the tears she had left. "InuYasha, you stupid…" he said as a huge wave of guilt hit him and it hit him hard. He wanted to punch himself for what he had done. He never wanted this to happen, he had been so selfish.

"How'd did you know I was talking about InuYasha?" she said, looking up at him at the sound of InuYasha's name coming from this stranger. She was genuinely surprised that he would know.

"I've heard through stories; the hanyuo who killed Kratos and of his beautiful ward. I can only guess those stories referred to you. You are much more beautiful than the stories though," he said as he felt her lay back onto his chest. He hadn't meant for her to hear him utter his own name, but he was quick in recovering his guise. She sighed heavily. Stories huh? Word travels fast, she supposed.

"Yes, but I would hardly call myself his ward. But I can tell you that I loved him, but you wouldn't understand about love," she said as she nestled deeper into his arms and as she lay on his chest, she could hear his heart beat. It was beating fast, but it was a rhythmic beat, and it was lulling her into a state of calm she had felt only once before, in _**HIS**_ arms; in InuYasha's arms.

"I would, for I too loved someone and then lost them. I am not as heartless as you may think," he said and as he did he felt the sensation that had overcome him in her bedroom sweep through him again. This time though, he let it engulf him. It was wonderful and for the first time in many years, he felt his heart at ease and he smiled a true, blissful smile; love, what a wonderful thing.

"You did?" she said as she raised her head, looking at the brim of his hat which still covered his eyes. As she looked at him, she saw him grin slightly, showing off a single white fang.

"Yes, that's how I got this scar. A reminder of how much love can hurt," he said as he ran his fingers over the scar he had been given the last time he had seen her. She looked up at him and ran her fingers over his scar. Although she could not see it in the dark, she could imagine the long winding scar across his heart. Her hand rested on it and she looked up at him, tears shinning, but unfallen, in her eyes. He rested his own hand on hers and then gripped it, bringing it down to his lap. She smiled as she saw the pain in his bright eyes and was comforted by the show of such strong emotion. He must really have loved her, she thought.

"What did she look like?" she asked, closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep in the warmth of his arms. She heard him start to describe his lost love and she smiled to herself, how beautiful she must have been.

"Well, she was beautiful and sweet. She had a voice like the most beautiful music with eyes the color of the wildest seas, but they were also calm and forgiving. Her hair was the darkest color of the night glistening with stars, but it was as soft as the finest silks. Her skin was milky and smooth, so smooth that I never wanted to let her go. She looked a lot like you…" he said before he realized that she had fallen asleep in his arms. He listened to her rhythmic breathing and felt the heat of her breath against his bare skin and he soon found himself falling into a sleep filled with dreams of her.

* * *

"I like his ears. I want to touch and see them. Just a quick feel, but how do I do it with all of this gauze in the way?" Lyn thought to herself as she looked up at the sleeping figure that held her. She carefully sat up and touched the tip of his bandaged ear. His ear twitched, but stopped as she held her breath.

"He reminds me so much of InuYasha…" she thought sadly. She sighed and without knowing it, her hands began to unwrap his ears. Slowly the gauze began to fall onto his lap and exposed two white, pointed ears. She bit her lip as she thought of _**HIM**_ again. She took a deep breath and began to rub his ear, and as she did, she heard him sigh and she thought she saw a smile grace his sleeping features for a moment.

"I thought demons hated it when people touched their ears, only InuYasha liked it…" she thought to herself sadly.

"I have to know who he is. I can't stand this torture anymore," she thought as she stopped rubbing his ear and looked at her 'hooded' savior and mentally torturer. She gritted her teeth together and grabbed the brim of his hat, lifting it gently off his head and over his ears, causing a mass of white hair to fall across his face. She gently brushed it away and froze. Her words, heart, and a scream seemed to be crammed in her throat, each trying to jump out of her mouth at the same time. She lifted a trembling hand to his exposed face and whispered his name.

"InuYasha," she said loud enough to wake him. She had her hand on his face still, trying to make sense of what she was seeing. Maybe she was dreaming now. She had had many dreams like this in the past year, yet nothing as real as this.

"What? Who! Lyn…" he said noticing the hat in her hands and her hand on his face. "I…" was all he could get out before the hand she had on his face swung back and smacked him across the cheek, leaving a red handprint across his face.

"InuYasha you no good mother fucking heartless bastard!" Lyn spat as she threw his hat at him and stared at him with eyes that could kill. He saw her eyes burning with seething rage, and noticed that they were tinted a slight purple color. Her fists were curled into tight balls and as she raised one of them to no doubt strike him again, he grabbed her and held her against him. She struggled wildly and she cried harder than she ever had. He could smell her salt tinged tears and hugged her tighter.

"Please Lyn, forgive me. I only did what I thought was best for you. I didn't know that I would come back and I didn't mean to. Please forgive me; I see now that it was a foolish and selfish mistake. I never want to leave you alone again. Please my _koi_, forgive me…" he said as he felt her stop struggling and he no longer smelled any more salt in the air. She did push away from him, and he allowed her too. She looked up into the amber eyes she thought she would never see again but in her dreams, and he looked into her green eyes that were red from sobbing and without warning she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him, hard. He felt her body against his, he felt her breasts push against his bare skin and he felt her hot breath against his neck and it took everything he had to stifle a moan that threatened to escape from his parted lips. She let him go, much to his relief and regret, and looked at him again. This time it was a quizzical look.

"How," she asked and he took a deep breath and smiled.

* * *

"Soul Healers?" she asked. She had no idea what they where, but she was glad they had stumbled upon him.

"Yeah. The apprentice said my body was dead but my soul refused to cross over or something like that," he said in response to her question. He saw that she was no longer mad, but instead she seemed relived that he was back at her side once more. Every time he looked at her he saw that look in her eyes he saw in the picture more and more. Each time he saw it, it made him smile inwardly.

"So you were the one who saved me at the warehouse. Which means...I _**KICKED YOU**_! Oh InuYasha, I'm _soooo_ sorry!" Lyn said as she threw her arms around him again, hugging him tightly. He was beginning to think that she would hug him no matter what, just so that she could feel him and make sure he was really there.

"No, it's ok. But damn do you kick hard! I think you broke a rib or two with those kicks," he said, rubbing his side. He had taken off the bandages before he went back downstairs with Matt, but they still had a dull ache to them.

"I guess it was a good thing I persisted on healing you then," she said, smiling with a sense of self satisfaction.

"Yeah, thanks about that," he said as she cuddled up next to him. He drew her closer as he put an arm around her and kissed the top her head, breathing in the scent of her shampoo. It was Lavender mixed with her sweet natural, Jasmine scent. It scent shivers down his spine and into his groin.

"InuYasha, why did you tell me to forget about you?" she said, looking up at him. She was remembering that day again and she breathed in deeply, trying to calm her pounding heart. He looked down at her and saw the memory playing behind her eyes and, although the memory of that day was vague, he saw the hurt it had caused.

"I didn't want my memory to haunt you because I knew if you remembered me, you'd hurt," he said turning his head away from her. He didn't want her to see the tears that were forming in his eyes, but as always, they never fell. His tawny eyes were still misty as he looked back at the girl in his arms.

"InuYasha, you're so stupid sometimes," she said as she reached up and began to rub his ear. He sighed and placed his head on the top of hers. He wanted to never let her go; to always feel her against him; to always smell her sweet, intoxicating scent; and to have her love, always. He took a deep breath as he thought of her with him forever, then it hit him. He smiled as he sat up, causing her to lift her head from his lap and look at him with a curious, sleepy look.

"I love you Lyn," he said, and this time he meant it. He no longer needed to hide from what he felt. Now he understood what his mother had meant when she said that he needed to go back to her. Lyn was his protector, his love; she was his life.

"I love you too, silly inu," she said with a small giggle as she put her head on the back into his lap. He huffed, but smiled to himself. She hadn't lost her sense of humor after all this time it seemed. But he pushed the happy stuff aside; he had to be serious now. What he wanted to do now was the most important thing he would ever do and it had to be done right.

"Lyn...I've been thinking, I need to ask you something," he said as he lifted her head out of his lap and looked her straight in her eyes. They had a sleep haze over them, but as she focused on him and saw how serious he was, the haze dissipated and she looked back at him with equal intensity.

"What is it InuYasha?" she asked, equally intrigued and confused. She had never seen him act like this before and she wanted to know what it was that was making him act so peculiar.

"You love me right?" he asked her, still looking deep into her eyes, searching for an answer to his question, even though he already knew she did. He had to make sure though, what he was about to ask her to do was something that could never be undone.

"Yes, of course," she said, stunned that he would ask her such an obvious question. What was he thinking, she thought to herself.

"Do you want to be with me forever?" he said his jaw clenching after the question, as if anticipating her answer, whatever it may be. If it was no then it would crush him, but if it was yes, which he was sure it would be then he was still equally hesitant.

"...InuYasha, I…" she said as she sat there. She was at a loss for words. She had never really thought of it before. She thought about all the time they had spent together, how crushed she had been when he wasn't with her. She had begun to drift into memory lane when his voice pulled her back to reality.

"Do you?" he asked again, his eyes glowing intensely in the dark room. They were filled with anticipation and hesitation. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She looked into his eyes and nodded.

"Yes. Yes I do," she finally said as she grabbed his hands and squeezed them. His jaw flexed and he squeezed her hands back and looked down. She pulled her hands from his and put one under his chin and lifted his head up so that their eyes met once again. She placed another on his cheek as she searched his amber globes for an answer, but it was hidden.

"What is wrong my _koibito_," she cooed softly as he took her hands from his face and pulled her close to him, trapping their hands between them. He kissed her lips gently and then pulled away. She was even more confused now and she was about to ask him again, but he just put a finger to her lips and smiled softly.

"I must mark you," he said just as soft, peering into her eyes that were filled with even more confusion. But it was a bubbly type of curiosity and it put is mind and heart even more on edge because he did not know what would change in her when he marked her. He had never done it before and knew little about the type of effect it would have on a human.

"Mark me? What do you mean?" she asked as she cocked her head slightly to one side. Her interest was peeked to the point of no return. He had to tell her now or she would kill him with nagging. She saw that he meant to though, and fell silent in anticipation.

"It's the way my kind tells others that your mine," he said, looking down at her hands as he drew small circle across the top of them with his talons. He was loosing his apprehension at marking her because of her willingness so far.

"Why do you need to? You're the only hanyuo or demon around," she asked. She sensed the apprehension still and it bewildered her.

"It's not only that. Once I mark you, we will be bound for life and it is said that you will share my life span. I don't know though because no demon, besides my father, has mated with a human female and none has ever marked one. It may be dangerous, but it's a chance I'm willing to take in order to keep you with me, forever," he said, never breaking eye contact with her. He saw understanding show in her eyes, but also, for the first time, he saw apprehension. But as quick as it came, it was gone and replaced with a comforting glance.

"How do you mark me?" she asked. She had listened to his explanation and at first it scared her, but knowing that she would never have to leave him alone because she would live until he died helped her to choose. She would be his, now and forever.

"I must bite your neck, but only if you wish me too," he said as he moved closer to her, their lips nearly brushing together. She closed her eyes and put her lips against his.

"I wish you to," she whispered against his lips. She moved her hair away from the left side of her neck. He saw the soft curve of her neck and the smooth, bare skin enticed him. He slowly bent his head and breathed against her neck, making her moan softly. He licked his lips and then her neck, tasting the salt of her skin. Her taste and smell pushed him over the edge and he sunk his fangs into her neck. She let out a small gasp and he stopped quickly, not wanting to hurt her, but not wanting to stop either. She took a deep breath and brought one of her hands to the back of his neck and gently pushed him back towards the exposed and bleeding nape of her neck. Realizing that she wanted him to finish, he bit harder, letting a trickle of blood fall from between his lips. He licked away the blood and lifted his head and admired the mark. She was his now.

"That didn't hurt too much," she said as he kissed the mark and placed his head on her shoulder. His hot breath caressing her neck was turning her on and she felt him sort of purr as she began to rub one of his ears. He looked up and smiled at the woman in front of him before he kissed her. She kissed him back but instead of pulling away, she eased him onto his back, so that he was lying on the couch looking up at her**.**

"I've missed you InuYasha. Every part of you," she whispered into one of his ears. It sent shivers up his spine and he pulled her down so that he could feel every part of her against him.

"And I've missed you Lyn. All of those days I spent in the darkness were filled with foggy images of you. I would reach up to them, but my hand would go right through. I want to make sure your real this time; I want to feel every part of you I've missed," he said as he pulled her lips onto his. His lips were warm and parted slightly, his tongue brushing against her lips, searching for entry. She allowed his tongue to enter and become entangled in hers as their passion grew. As they kissed, she felt his hands leave her back and begin to caress her breasts. They were bare under her shirt and as his hands ran over her already hard nipples, she gasped and sat up. He looked into her eyes which seemed to be glowing a light purple in the room, and noticed that they were filled with a fire he had never seen before. His inner beast rumbled with desire and wanted to tame that fire and he craved her more and more. As she sat up, she tore off her shirt, exposing her smooth white skin and succulent breasts. InuYasha sat up, crashing his lips against hers. He nipped at her lips, and she did the same. He could feel what he thought were fangs brush against his neck as she began to kiss it, but soon a haze filled his mind and the thought was lost within it. He held tightly onto her and eased her onto her back. He ran his hands over her body and then began to kiss her neck and chest as her hands worked off his belt. Without taking his lips off her, he slid out of his pants and began to unbuttoned hers. She helped when he fumbled with the buttons and then she slid them off, exposing her bare thighs and legs. He pushed his bare chest against hers and gripped her bare bottom, feeling the heat coming from her. He looked up at her and he saw the fire in her eyes that was burning brighter in the pitch black room. He growled into her bare skin as he began to kiss her body as his hands traced over every curve her smooth body possessed. He trialed his kisses and nips down until he reached the inner heat of her.

"Oh InuYasha!" she cried out as he trailed his tongue across where the heat was escaping. He just looked up at her with a bestial grin and continued to satisfy both of their inner hungers of desire.

* * *

"I'm worried about Lyn, that's why were going to see her!" Sango hissed as she fumbled with the key ring she had pulled out of her overflowing black purse. She dropped the keys and cursed as she bent down to pick them up, nearly spilling the entire contents of her purse.

"Why are we worried about her Sango?" said the monk, standing behind her with an impatient look on his handsome face.

"For a monk you're pretty stupid," Sango snarled as she tried key after key in the door. She was fuming and Miroku's constant whining was putting her further on edge.

"That's not fair, I'm very edumacated," Miroku said sarcastically, rolling his brilliant brown eyes.

"Yeah, well I'm worried because I didn't trust that demon that we left with her," Sango said as she finally found the right key and turned the lock with a relieved sigh. She stood up and looked at him with an almost apologetic look.

"OK, that makes sense...I guess," he said as he uncrossed his arms and placed them in the pockets old his faded old jeans.

"Just be quiet when we get in there ok?" Sango said opened the front door and walked into the front room with Miroku close behind. They tip-toed into the dark house and looked around. After nearly falling over each other, Miroku went over to the window and opened the crimson curtain covering the large, French windows a crack allowing faint streams of early morning sun to filter into the living room.

"Look Sango, on the couch!" Miroku whispered as loud as he could, pointing to a blanket covered lump on the couch.

"Oh no, no!" Sango said as she ran over to the couch and fell to her knees next to the lump, tears shining in her brown eyes.

"Oh my god, its Lyn!" she said as she drew the blanket off the lumps head gently. She fell onto her butt and scooted away from her friend as fast and she could. She collided with Miroku's legs, nearly knocking him down. He regained his balance and pulled his girlfriend to her feet.

"That doesn't mean she's like dead or anything Sango dear," he said softly, trying to calm both Sango and himself.

"That does!" she hissed as him with tears in her eyes as she pointed to InuYasha's mark which was noticeable, even in the shadow draped room. It had a bit of dried blood on it still, making it look deadly.

"He killed her!" Sango hissed angrily. She was clutching Miroku's shirt and the skin beneath and her well manicured nails were biting into his skin. He didn't seem to notice this though, for the amount of anger boiling up inside of him was washing over him, numbing him to everything else.

"Don't yell you idiot! If he's anything like InuYasha, he can hear us!" Miroku hissed in her ear while simultaneously clapping a hand over her mouth. He listened for any movement and when he heard none, he let go of her mouth, but put a finger over her lips to remind her to remain either quiet or completely silent.

"Oh yeah, well he won't be hearing anything much longer after I get through with him!" Sango whispered as she bent over and pulled a small saber out from a sheath she had strapped to her ankle. It glinted sharply in the few rays of sun that stained the white carpet. Miroku looked a the small saber with both curiosity and astonishment. He looked at Sango questioningly, but she was already making her way to the kitchen. He frowned and followed her.

"I kinda wish Matt was here. He's a thief and all, very quiet and sneaky," the monk said as he followed Sango to the kitchen door. Sango turned her head towards him and he could see both annoyance, anger, and a glint of fright playing in her unusually bright eyes.

"Well he's off with Kagome, his new love interest," she said rolling her eyes as she turned back towards the door. She put a hand to it and was about to push it open when Miroku put a hand on her shoulder and pulled her back slightly.

"Ummm, Sango…" he said as she whipped around to face him, her eyes twitching slightly.

"What Miroku," Sango was getting more than annoyed with him now and she wanted to slit his throat if he didn't shut up soon.

"I don't have a sword or anything…" he said feebly, sensing her seething anger.

"Use your Air Void then…" she hissed, turning back towards the kitchen door.

"And destroy her house?" she heard him say from behind her. She was about to say something critical and whip him with both her tongue and her fists but then she realized that there was some weight to his words. She sighed heavily and reached down the front of her tight fitting, navy blue low cut sweater and pulled out another, longer saber.

"Where do you keep getting these things from?" he said as she handed him the short one she had originally and turned away from him for the last time.

"Just shut up and stop bothering me," she hissed as she finally pushed open the kitchen door and both of them crept quietly into the dark kitchen, still unaware that the demon they wanted to kill was the last person they ever expected.

"Hmmm, what to eat. Ramen and beer? Or maybe chicken Ramen with beer?" InuYasha mused as he dug through Lyn's fridge. He didn't hear both Sango and Miroku sneak in because he was humming lightly to himself and was distracted by the thoughts of what had occurred just a few hours before.

"There he is! That fucking murdering bastard!" Miroku hissed as he went to push past Sango and stab the hanyuo in the back. Sango grabbed him tightly and pulled him back behind her. She looked him in the eyes, and even in the dark kitchen, her eyes burned with anger, and fear.

"Ssshhh, he'll hear you," she whispered to him as she turned back towards the hanyuo who was half buried in the fridge, nearly singing now. Sango was amazed at how happy this thing could be after what he had done to her friend. She gripped the knife tighter as she felt adrenaline course through her veins.

"Bastard," she said loudly as she snuck up on him. He looked up from the fridge as he got a whiff of their scents, but it was to late. The smells of the food in the fridge had masked the two scents and now Sango was upon him. She shoved him into the sink counter, throwing him off balance. He hit the counter and tried to regain his composer, but she was there again and pulled him forward by grabbing his neck. Her grip was solid and even though he tried to pry her hands from him, he didn't want to hurt her so he was stuck. She let go of his neck and grabbed a handful of the tangled white hair that fell across his back and yanked his head back violently. If he hadn't been a hanyuo, she would have broken his neck with the force of her pull. With his neck exposed, she held the blade of her longer saber to it roughly. When she had yanked his head back, his long bangs had once again concealed his face, the one thing that could have saved him, and he knew it.

"Sango…" he chocked out as she pressed the blade harder, drawing blood. He was highly confused as to why she was acting to bizarre towards him. Sure, she didn't know who he was but Sango was not a rash person. What in the world was going on? Why was he the one always stuck in these situations?

"Shut this thing up will you Miroku dear?" Sango cooed, and that's when InuYasha realized that Miroku was there, too. He had smelled him, yes, but he supposed that it was just a lingering scent left on Sango. Now that he saw that the monk also had a knife and meant to use it, he cursed himself for being so caught up in the night before. But then again, who could have anticipated this type of reaction from people you thought you knew so well?

"My pleasure!" Miroku said with a sadistic smile on his face. He brought the knife to his hip and ran at InuYasha, stabbing him a bit high as he raised the knife in his frenzy; he just missed the half-demons' heart. The monk pulled the knife out and looked down at the blood on the knife and his hand, and swayed on his feet for a second. Sango called his name and he snapped out of his near fainting spell, shook his head, took a deep breath and nodded.

"Man! Why do they always go for the damn heart and miss? If you're gonna kill me, do it the right way!" InuYasha thought to himself as the pain ran through his body. He watched the monk go pale at the sight of his blood and he chuckled to himself. But the humor was short lived.

"That's not gonna do anything! Put a spell on it or something! You're a damn monk, act like one!" Sango nearly screamed. She was furious and InuYasha could smell her sweat, adrenaline, anger and fear. It rolled off of her in waves, nearly drowning the injured half-demon in it.

"Fine! You don't have to be such a bitch…" Miroku mumbled as he lowered his head and held the knife in both hands before his face. He spoke lowly to himself, low enough so that InuYasha could not hear, and soon the blade began to glow a dark blue.

"Let him go…" Miroku said, his eyes still closed and the blade still held in front of him. The blade began to pulse with the blue color now and it was transfixing in a way.

"What?" Sango said, relaxing her grip on InuYasha. Part of him yelled for him to break away now and leave, but the other part was enthralled with the hypnotic pulse of the blade.

"Just do it!" Miroku roared and she let him go abruptly and he fell to his knees in surprise. He pushed himself up with the hand that wasn't covering his stab wound and rose to his feet. He shook his head, trying to clear the blue fog that had filled his thoughts while he was staring at the blade.

"Well demon? What do you have to say for yourself now?" Miroku said as he opened his eyes and peered at the demon through the blue curtain that was now obscuring his face.

"Wha…Wait, what did I do?" InuYasha asked as he looked down at his bleeding chest. His thoughts were still foggy, like he had just woken up from a long and deep sleep. He raised his hand, looking at the monk through the white of his hair.

"What do you mean? You killed her! You sucked her soul through her neck like some sort of sick, demented vampire!" Sango said from behind him, he looked back at her and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. What was she talking about? Sucked her soul through her neck? That's when he realized they had seen his mark.

"No, you don't understand…" InuYasha said as the metallic taste of his blood began to fill his mouth. He swallowed it and looked back at the monk.

"Why the fuck am I the one always dying? Fuck, I'm getting real sick of this now," he thought to himself as he coughed violently, blood spewing from his mouth and falling down his chin. He wiped it away with the back of his hand and took a step toward the monk.

"I understand just fine!" Miroku yelled as he stabbed him in the side with the enchanted blue saber. As he did, InuYasha howled deeply and fell to his knees, his whole body shaking violently. It felt as if he was suddenly engulfed in flames. He nearly fell onto all fours, but steadied himself on his knees.

"Finish him off already!" Sango said impatiently as she watched the half-demon swaying on his knees, blood leaking out of his two wounds.

"I will, I want him to suffer like Lyn probably did," Miroku said as he knelt down on one knee in front of InuYasha. He could feel the monk's gaze piercing him and then he got an idea. He raised his head just enough so that he was now facing the monk. Blood was now trailing down the left side of his mouth and down his chin and at the sight of it, the monk's color began to fade, but he didn't look away. InuYasha's grinned slightly revealing a dangerously pointed fang that was stained a dark red, and at that moment, he spat a mouthful of blood into the monk's face. Miroku screamed and fell backwards, clutching his face. Sango went for InuYasha, but he was quicker. He knocked her off her feet and she landed in his pool of blood with a thud. He got up as quick as he could and ran through the kitchen door. He paused briefly to kneel by Lyn's sleeping figure and kissed her gently. He was going to wake her, but then he heard Miroku cursing and Sango pushing the kitchen door open.

"You bastard!" the two said together. Miroku's hazel eyes burned through the smear of blood on his face and InuYasha grinned again as Sango lunged for him, but he was already up and crashing through the front window. A slight breeze blew in through the broken window and if either Miroku or Sango had been paying more attention to their "dead" friend, they would have seen her stretch slightly, roll over, burrow herself deeper into her blanket and curl up happily.

"Damn it, we missed him! God knows how many other people he's gonna kill and whatever else he does, now!" Sango said as she ran to the front, threw it open and saw a few patches of blood on the sidewalk.

"Calm down Sango, if I did that spell right he won't be getting much farther until he turns human," Miroku said proudly as he walked up behind her and smiled.

"Human? How does that help us Miroku? We don't even know what he looks like now let alone like a person!" Sango yelled as she whipped around and punched him, making his arm go numb. She huffed and ran off in pursuit of InuYasha. She would follow the blood trail as far as it would take her.

"Why does everyone like to hit me?" he said as he took off after her. After a few minutes of the house being silent, the curled up mass under the covers stretched again and sat up. She rubbed her neck and smiled as her fingers brushed across the mark he had given her. She smiled as s strong breeze brushed her face, but then the smile vanished. She didn't remember leaving a window open and as she turned her head towards the front, she nearly screamed. The front window was gone and the curtains were hanging haphazardly on their broken rods. Her face changed from a soft white to a fiery red and the vein in her temple began to visibly pulse rapidly.

"What the holy mother fucking son of a bitching hell? I bet Matthew had something to do with this. I'll kill him…." she said as she sat up and went over to the phone, grabbing it so viscously that she almost broke it. She dialed Matt's number, and somewhere across town, the thief got a chill.

* * *

"You have a nice pad here Matt," a young Japanese girl with large brown eyes and long black hair said. She turned towards him and her milky white features were glowing along with a little blush on her cheeks.

"Thanks Kagome. I'm glad you like it," Matt said. He suddenly got a chill and shrugged it off, but he couldn't shrug off the feeling of impending doom that went along with it. He was beginning to think that today wasn't going to be as wonderful as he had originally thought.

"Hehe, your turning red again Matt…" Kagome said, her blush deepening as well.

"Oh...ummm," the thief said as he became more and more nervous as the feeling got stronger and stronger. It was no longer impending doom he felt, but instead it was the feeling he had when he knew that trouble was coming his way.

"I thought you'd be more comfortable around me now Matthew," she said looking a bit disappointed. She had a small frown on her face as she went over to him and laid a small, white hand on his face. He was beginning to get lost in her large, doe eyes.

"I am, it's just…" he began to say. His words were getting lost in her eyes now and they were leaning in to kiss, for the first time.

"I don't know if I can do this… I want to but I don't think… ***ding-dong***" Matt opened his eyes as he was torn out of his frantic thoughts at the sound of the doorbell. He pulled away from Kagome and looked at her apologetically as he went to the door. It rang again and he broke into a small run.

"Saved by the bell," Matt thought, though uneasily. He knew that when he opened the door, whatever was on the other side wasn't going to be good. Instincts told him so. He had been a thief most of his young life and relied to heavily on his instincts for him not to know that something was wrong.

"InuYasha? What's wrong?" Matt said as he opened the door and saw InuYasha leaning labouredly against his door frame. He looked up at the thief and at that instant Matt knew something was more than wrong with his old friend.

"Matt…" InuYasha said as he fell into the thief's waiting arms. Matt was ready for him to collapse, he had seen the exhaustion and pain in the hanyuo's eyes, which were no longer as bright as he remembered.

"What happened?" Matt said as he pretty much dragged the half-demon over to the couch where a shocked Kagome sat. She stared at the bleeding and panting hanyuo in near disbelief.

"Matthew?" Kagome said nervously as she got up and helped Matt lay InuYasha on the couch gently. The half-breed let out a sigh of relief, as well as of pain. He had no trouble with the pain as much as the utter exhaustion that had seized him. Pain let him know he wasn't to close to dying.

"Kagome, baby, this is InuYasha, my best friend," Matt said as he placed a hand on InuYasha's forehead. He wasn't burning up, but his skin had an odd, clammy yet papery texture to it. He turned towards Kagome and gave her a half-hearted smile. To his surprise, she didn't look the least bit scared, but instead she looked worried sick as she began to walk towards InuYasha.

"He's bleeding, a lot! What happened?" she asked as she walked to Matt's side and would have walked to InuYasha's side if Matt hadn't taken her by the waist and turned her towards him. She looked confused for a second, but the look in his eyes made the confusion dissipate. She nodded in understanding even before she heard what Matt had to say.

"Kagome dear, could you leave the room so me and InuYasha here could talk?" he asked, even though she had already given him her answer. She began to walk into the kitchen, but halfway through the swinging kitchen door; she stopped, cocked her head to one side as if remembering something, and turned back towards the two men.

"Are those dog ears?" she said, her eyes now filled with a bit of harmless suspicion and curiosity. She had a hand on the door still and looked at Matt thoughtfully.

"I'll explain later sweetheart…" Matt answered and she nodded as she went into the kitchen, the door barely swinging behind her as she slipped in. As soon as she had gone, InuYasha lifted his hand off his chest and sighed in pain. He went to run his claws through his hair, but stopped as he remembered that his hands were most likely saturated in blood. He grunted in displeasure as he placed the hand back over his chest.

"What happened man?" Matt asked as he knelt down at his friends' side. He saw then that InuYasha had two wounds; a deep one on his side and a shallower, but still rather deep, one on his chest.

"Sango...Mir...Mir…" InuYasha tried to say, but his words weren't coming out right. He was tired and painful, but he should still have been able to talk. He had to pull himself together, and quick.

"Sango and Miroku? Why would they hurt you?" Matt inquired, more confused than ever know. If they had known who he was they would never have hurt him. Even if they still hadn't found out, there was still no sane reason for them to try to kill him.

"Thought I killed...Lyn," InuYasha managed to say. He was gaining control over himself now, and the pains in his wounds were diminishing, but he was beginning to tingle all over. It wasn't the same tingle he remembered feeling in death. This was different, and it made him more uneasy than the thought of death.

"What? Why would they think that?" Matt said, now even more confused.

"I marked her...thought I...sucked her soul," InuYasha gasped out. His sentences were coming together with fewer pauses now, but his tongue felt heavy and as he went to lick some blood off of his fangs, he felt that they were dull. He didn't know what was happening, but he had other things to worry about now, like not bleeding to death. He raised one of his hands and looked at his claws which were dripping blood. He flexed his jaw in anger as he dropped his hand and closed his eyes in frustration.

"How long ago did Sango stab you?" Matt said as he examined his friends' wounds in growing wonder and minor frustration. He couldn't understand how Miroku and Sango could not identify the mark, surely Sango of all people should have been able to tell that it Lyn's mark was nothing more than just that, a mark.

"Not Sango, it was the…monk," InuYasha said, grinding his teeth at the memory of the sick pleasure the monk seemed to get out of hurting him. It seemed that not only was Miroku a pervert, but he was sadistic too. His vision blurred for a second before everything came back into focus, but he felt strange. He was not in much pain, but he couldn't shake the odd feeling he had now.

"Miroku? Well how long ago?" Matt asked and then he paused. He looked at his friend and all of a sudden had a very bad idea of what had happened to his old friend. As he looked at the hanyuo he noticed that his ears, hair, and eyes were darker. Spots of brown were showing up in his eyes and streaks and spots of raven black were showing up in his hair and ears.

"Twenty-five minutes or so…" the hanyuo answered, swallowing a mouthful of metallic tasting blood. He sighed went to lick his fangs again, but when he did, he noticed something that startled him; they were gone.

"How come your not healed then?" Matt said, although he knew the answer to the question already. InuYasha was somewhat healed, but he had stopped healing due to the change the thief saw in him. He just needed confirmation before he started to freak out.

"Miroku made...the sword glow...before he stabbed me…" InuYasha gasped out. The pain had come back and it had come back with a vengeance. His whole body began to shake uncontrollably as a burning sensation ripped through him. He gripped the arms of the couch and let it pass in silence.

"Shit! I know what he did then, fuck this is really bad. He's making you human since its the only spell he knows and that's only because Kaede taught him. We need to get back home so we can see if she can do something," Matt said as panic began to set in. If they couldn't get back to the feudal area in time, InuYasha would not only bleed to death from these wounds, but all of the wounds he had ever suffered as a half-demon would surface and then he would die.

"What? Her...but…" InuYasha began to say, but was cut short as his vision doubled again, but this time he nearly blacked out. As the world regained both color and light, he knew that heneeded serious help. Whether or not that help came from Kaede was another story all together.

"Would you rather sit here and bleed to death all over my white carpet?" Matt said, trying to lighten the mood a bit. He saw InuYasha grin slightly, but it only lasted a few seconds before his face became solemn again. He looked at the thief and saw the worry and shook his head. Everyone needed to stop trying to kill him and stop worrying about him. Everything always did have a weird way of working out in the end.

"What about Lyn, can't she do it...?" InuYasha started but stopped as he saw the answer in Matt's eyes. It was passed her; this situation called for a more professional touch. Just as matt was about to answer his friend, the phone rang and the thief got that same chill again.

***ring-ring*** "I got it Matt!" Kagome called from the kitchen. The men could hear her nearly silent footsteps as she went to answer the phone. They didn't care who it was, for they had bigger problems to deal with at the moment. Whomever it was could wait.

"Thanks Kagome and no InuYasha. It's to powerful of a spell," Matt said as he plopped down on the floor next to the couch InuYasha was sprawled on.

"Oh Matt, it's some girl named Lyn, and she sounds mad. Something about her front window?" came Kagomes' voice as she stuck her head out from the kitchen door and looked at him with a small smile on her face. Her eyes smiled along with her face and InuYasha smiled lightly as Matt got up and took the phone from Kagome. He took a deep breath and walked into the kitchen, the door swinging shut behind him. As he went in, Kagome came into the room with bandages, towels and a bucket of hot water. She walked over to a table, set the supplies on it and then dragged it over to the couch. She sat on her knees, grabbed a small towel, dipped it into the water, wrung it out and began to clean the half-demon's wounds. He went to stop her by grabbing her wrist, but she slapped his hand gently and looked at him, a stern and warning look in her large eyes.

"Now just lie still so I can fix you up!" she said as she finished wiping the dried blood away and began to bandage him up. He began to say something but stopped. This girl reminded him of Lyn in the way she commanded attention and respect. He sighed heavily and let her finish her work.

"Your not afraid of me?" he finally said as she bandaged up his side and went to work on his chest. Her fingers were long and her nails were painted a cherry blossom pink and tickled his chest as they ran across it.

"Should I be?" she asked as she looked up at him curiously. Her eyes peered at him with interest, but no fear which was a rather welcome surprise.

"I…" he wasn't sure of what to say because know one, especially someone who had not come from his time, had ever been anything _**BUT**_afraid of him. There was only one exception, and that was Lyn. He watched her finish up his bandages with curbed curiosity.

"All done!" she said with a smile. She wiped her wet hands on a clean towel, gathered up what was left of her supplies and got up and walked into another room, leaving InuYasha a bit confused but grateful none the less. He sat up and ran a hand over his bandages which were already slowly staining red. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair and was dismayed to find that his ear were nothing but little nubs now. Maybe he should give Kaede a chance.

"No! Lyn I swear it wasn't me! Yes I know why!" came Matt's perplexed and somewhat scared voice a she pushed open the kitchen door and glared at InuYasha. The hanyuo grinned as the thief explained what had happened. InuYasha could hear Lyn laugh when Matt finished. The thief turned red with anger and gripped the phone so tight his knuckles began to turn white.

"I'm not lying! You wanna talk to him then? Fine!" Matt said angrily as he threw the cordless red phone at InuYasha. Matt sat down heavily next to his friend and InuYasha had to stifle a laugh. He picked the phone up out of his laugh and held it to his ear. He could hear her heavy breathing and he knew she was more than angry. He smiled softly and began to talk.

"Hey baby. Yeah, he ain't lying. I don't know were they are, probably... looking for me. K, I'll be there to pick you...up before…we go," he said as he handed the phone back to Matt and ran his now blunt claws through his hair which was silkier and as a few strands fell across his face, he noticed that it was now black in many places. He sighed and finally gave in to the idea of Kaede. He would have to just deal with the old bag until he was well enough to leave.

"What was that all about?" Matt said, a hint of sarcasm and anger still lingering in his voice. He looked at his friend and half smiled half frowned at both the sight of the hanyuo and the whole situation. He felt bad for the guy; it seemed trouble followed him around wherever he went. Matt secretly hoped it wasn't contagious.

"She's coming," InuYasha said as he leaned forward and tried to get off the couch himself. He had his butt off but then his legs gave out and he collapsed back onto it again. He cursed and punched the arm of the sofa and looked over at the thief.

"OK, then we should be going then. Kagome baby, could you help me?" Matt called to her as he slung one arm under his friends arm. Kagome came back into the living room and smiled down at the both of them. She didn't even ask what she needed to do and instead mimicked what Matt had done, slipping one petite arm under the hanyuo and together they lifted him off the couch and out the door to Kagome's black Beetle convertible. They pretty much had to shove him into the front seat because he had begun to rapidly deteriorate as a few old wounds had begun to open on other parts of his body. None of his serious wounds were showing yet, like the ones from his battle with Kratos, but the process had begun. After closing the passenger door, Matt turned to Kagome and smiled sheepishly and pulled her into a hug. She hugged him back with surprising strength.

"When will you be back?" she asked, still embraced in his arms. She looked into his hazel eyes and he felt himself swimming in hers again.

"As soon as I can. I promise," he said smiling more confidently now. Her smile lingered as her eyes turned downcast. He thought he had done something to make her sad and was about to raise her chin when her lips suddenly met his. He looked at her, a bit cross eyed and saw her eyes were squeezed tight. He smiled to himself as he closed his eyes and kissed her back, never thinking back on how he was one scared to. He felt her relax into him and their lips parted to allow entry. InuYasha stared at the two for a minute before he began to get annoyed. He huffed and leaned over to the driver's side and laid on the horn. He saw the two jump slightly and look over at him.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I just happen to be dying over here so if you could just hurry it up a little, I'd appreciate it," he said sarcastically. Matt turned red as Kagome gave him a peck on the cheek, but sucked up his pride and got into the drivers seat. He turned on the car and sped off towards Lyn's house, glancing back just once to see Kagome still standing on the sidewalk, watching them go.

* * *

"I bet he went back to Lyn's," Miroku said as he stopped behind Sango and wiped the sweat from his forehand with the back of his cursed hand. Sango stood straight up, not a bead of sweat or sign of fatigue played on her face as she looked around, seeming to smell the wind for a sing of the demon they were chasing.

"Let's go check then," Sango said quickly as she turned around and started to run back toward Lyn's house. Miroku took a deep breath and began to run after her. He had begun to catch up to her, but started to lag and was soon down to a jog.

"Slow down! I'm not as freakish as you!" Miroku yelled to her. She didn't even look back but instead just give him the finger. He flexed his jaw in annoyance and flipped her off to her back.

"Classy…" he huffed as he shook his head causing small beads of sweat to fly from his hair. He was dripping sweat and looked like he had jumped into a pool with his close on. He stopped and put his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. He looked up and didn't see her and sighed heavily as he stood up again and began to run towards Lyn's house and towards Sango.

* * *

"Hurry up Lyn, he's changing faster!" Matt called to her from the base of the stairs, and he was unfortunately right. InuYasha's hair was already entirely raven and one of his eyes were already chocolate brown. He was even weaker than before as he lost even more blood as more of his old battle wounds began to surface.

"Coming!" Lyn yelled back as she ran down the stairs, not really watching were she was going. She was barely down the first few steps when she missed one, causing her to tumble down the rest of the flight. Matt felt InuYasha lurch in his arms as the hanyuo went for her, but Matt had to catch him as he fell to his knees in pain. He looked up at Lyn as she came to rest face down at the bottom of the stairs. His heart stopped for a moment before he saw her move.

"I'm _**OK**_!" she said as she bounced back up and went over to InuYasha's side. Her eyes were apologetic as well as anxious and he just shook his head as the two helped him to his feet. He leaned heavily against Matt and grabbed Lyn's hand and squeezed it, trying to calm her a bit.

"Shall we be going?" she said with a small smile, her eyes loosing some of their anxiety. InuYasha just looked at her with a smile on his face which was slowly fading along with his life. Lyn saw this and her anxiety returned and was now laced with true fear.

"We're never gonna get there in time Matt! Just look at him!" Lyn said as she climbed out of the well. She grabbed InuYasha's hand and helped him out of the well, too, and laid his back against the old stone wall. He looked up at her and it was true. He now had a full human body except for the presence of his now black dog ear nubs. His once handsome, human face was road mapped with small cuts and bruises and he seemed to be bleeding from everywhere now. Although it wasn't a vigorous flow, there were enough wounds to make it seem like a river. Lyn was helping him to his feet when he froze and looked up at the tree lined sky. Matt looked up too, and then Lyn.

"You hear that, too," InuYasha said as he scanned the little bit of sky that was peering in through the thick tree canopy. Matt had helped him move to a more open area, and the sound filtered in better now.

"It sounds like wings," Matt said as he lowered his friend to the ground where he rested his back against the God Tree.

"I know this sound. It's a demon flock," Matt said hesitantly, a hint of fear in his voice. InuYasha's jaw tensed, not with pain, but with anger and annoyance. Why did he have to be human now of all times?

"A demon flock?" Lyn asked her head still turned towards the sky, not liking the sounds she was hearing. It sounded like someone was standing on a mountain top and was flapping big, heavy pieces of rice paper. The sound was closer now, and she could hear what sounded like hundreds of bird's wings all flapping together.

"Run…" InuYasha voice broke her out of her small trance and she looked at him with her brows furrowed in confusion. Matt held the same expression and walked up to Lyn's side.

"What do you mean run?" Matt and Lyn asked at the same time. InuYasha growled and looked at them, his jaw flexing in anger.

"Run and go...get Kaede and the...village," he said sternly as he rose to his feet and leaned against the God Tree. He stood straight up an ignored the pain searing his body.

"But…" Lyn began, tears standing in her eyes which made them shimmer in the afternoon light. It was déjà vu all over again and she couldn't understand it.

"_**JUSTGO**_!" he roared and they ran. Lyn's tears left a lingering smell in his nostrils which began to fade as the sound became nearly deafening, blocking out the sun and every other sound.

* * *

"Do you know how to get to the village Matt?" Lyn said as they stopped running and surveyed their surroundings. Lyn had the odd feeling that they had been running in circles since they had left InuYasha back at the clearing.

"Ummm…" Matt said as he turned in a small circle, a lost and somewhat hopeless expression painted on his young face. He turned towards Lyn and smiled warily.

"Are you telling me you don't know how to get to your own home village?" Lyn hissed at him. Her eyes began to tinge purple and Matt cringed under her gaze. He took a deep breath, gulped and looked back at her hesitantly.

"Yes?" he answered quietly; hoping to avoid a total beat down. He looked back at her and her eyes were wide with anger, annoyance, and some anxiety. There was no more purple, but he didn't want to push his luck any further.

"You mother loving idiot! We're lost aren't we!" she said as she started to shake him vigorously. His vision became a blur of colors and he swore he could feel his brain smashing around inside his skull.

"Yes?" he answered as Lyn stopped shaking him. That yes earned him a smack across the back of the head, causing him to fall face first into a pile of fall felled leaves. He looked up from the pile and shook his head, hoping that he wasn't doing to much more damage to his poor brain. He pushed himself out of the pile and plopped down against a tree and frowned, trying to think of what to do next. He knew that if they didn't get out of the forest soon that the flock would find them soon, but he kept that little nugget of knowledge to himself. It was a bit of self preservation on his part.

"Now what are we gonna do? InuYasha's back there and we're lost here, wherever here is!" Lyn said as she punched a tree, causing the bark to splinter and crack all the way up the middle of the tree. Matt inhaled deeply and rubbed his temples. He had really done it this time. If they managed to get out of this alive, InuYasha was going to kill him.

"I'm sure InuYasha's doing…" but he didn't get to finish his sentence before a large black raven demon landed in front of him and smiled. It had a large black and orange beak and when it smiled, rows of tiny, crooked, and very sharp teeth glinted in the dying sunlight. Lyn gasped and the bird thing turned its head, its long black hair swishing in the light breeze. It cawed in surprise and amusement as it shot out a feather lined hand and grabbed Lyn by the throat. She gasped as it squeezed and took great pleasure it the way she squirmed in its grasp. It then looked at Matt who was beginning to back away. The demon cawed again and took off, grabbing Matt in its sickly large and sharp talon feet.

"InuYasha's gonna kill me…" Matt thought as they foul smelling demon soared through the darkening sky, back towards the well; back towards InuYasha.

* * *

"What do we have here?" taunted a tall, pale women with black feathers that lined her arms. She walked over to InuYasha who stood with his back against the God Tree and peered into his face. Her beak was curved downward and she opened it to lick the blood that was on his face. Her thin, black tongue felt like wet sandpaper on his face and her saliva burned in his wounds. She leaned back, her eyes closed as she took in his scent and taste. She opened her squinty yellow eyes and smiled, a dribble of thick, opaque saliva trickling down as she did.

"Delicious. But as good as you may taste, you don't seem to be what you appear. Your taste is demonic, but human…" she sad as she ran black talons across his face, opening new wounds and letting fresh blood flow. She turned around and the short purple hair that met the feathers lining her back shook as if it was alive as a shiver of anticipation passed through her abnormally long, thin, and curvy body.

"It must be like a dying half breed!" an equally tall bird demon - whose gray feathers were missing in patches, revealing sickly greenish skin underneath - said excitedly.

"He looks so pathetic. Lets play with him!" a voice from the back yelled which was followed by caws of approval. The head female demon seemed to adore this idea as she stalked over to him on her long, black, scaly legs. She stopped though as a larger bird demon swooped in, and dropped the person he had clutched in his talons and then landed, throwing the girl he hand in his hands down next to the boy.

"Tori-Shu, my love. I was just about to prepare a game before dinner," the head female said, bowing deeply at his feet. His florescent green eyes glowed at this thought and he turned towards the two he had brought with him.

"No Kuroi Tsuki. Let's play wit dem…" he said to her as she rose to her feet and stood by his side. She nodded in the direction of another raven demon who had hold of both Matt and Lyn. InuYasha looked over at the two and he cursed himself ten fold.

"Hey InuYasha, long time no see," Matt said as he gave him a wry smile. The demon that held him gave the thief a kick, causing Matt to yelp. InuYasha looked at the injured thief and he knew that once again, he was the one who had to save everyone but himself.

"You idiot," InuYasha growled. He felt like wrapping his hands around Matt's neck and taking him to the grave with him. But instead Tori-Shu grabbed InuYasha's neck and studied him closely. For one, sickening minute, InuYasha thought that he was going to lick his face, just like the female did. He didn't though and instead let him go and backed away with a somewhat disgusted look in his eyes.

"InuYasha ay, you look, different," InuYasha just growled and looked over at Lyn who was staring right back at him. Her eyes were filled with fear, but not for herself, but for him. Both Shu and Kuroi Tsuki noticed that InuYasha was staring at her, and Tsuki smiled a sick, malicious smile.

"Don't tell me the infamous InuYasha, slayer of the mighty Kratos, is worried about this specimen here?" Tsuki said as she walked over to Lyn and sniffed her deeply, her yellow eyes rolling back into her oblong skull as she breathed Lyn in. She let out the breath and licked her beak with anticipation.

"Hmmm, it's a shame to waste such a _**BEAUTIFUL**_ specimen, but she's just to tasty to pass up," Tsuki said as she grabbed Lyn's hair and jerked her head back. She then drew a long knife from beneath her feathered breast and held it to Lyn's milky neck, preparing to cut her throat and drink her rich, thick blood. InuYasha began, for the firs time in his long life, to panic. He knew he couldn't fight her off, let alone a whole flock. They would all be killed if he tried. Then he remembered something which surprised him. It was a flash of white with red, a name, and an idea.

"Kikyo," InuYasha whispered, hoping and praying to all the gods that this would work.

"What did you say half breed?" Tsuki said, letting go of Lyn. Shu looked at InuYasha with keen interest as well and didn't like the look in the nearly human hanyuo's eyes. It scared him, a feeling he hadn't felt in a good 200 years.

"I said…Kikyo," InuYasha answered, and then he felt a change in the air as it got thicker. His prayers had been answered. But how they would get out of the forest and this rather messy situation once the apprentice Soul Healer got here was a small, left out detail in his "master" plan.

"Kikyo?" both Shu and Tsuki said. Before they could say more though, an aqua mist began to envelope the forest, and it was soon nearly impossible to see. The mist was heavier than air and smelled of Mir. He looked for a small figure in the mist, but his eyesight was that of a human now and it did no good to strain his already blurry vision.

"You rang?" came a familiar, soft voice from within the mist. He looked again but still there was no sign of the girl. He was getting a bit tired of playing hide and seek.

"Kikyo, I need your help so stop playing around," InuYasha demanded and he heard her huff in insult.

"Duh, why else would you have called?" the young apprentice said as she walked out from the thick mist, making a clearing around both of them. She began to walk closer toward him but stopped short when she saw his appearance.

"InuYasha? Is that you?" she said as she pulled her kimono up and sat on her knees next to him. She scanned his battled wounded face and frowned.

"What do you think?" he said, his eyes burning into her. She felt her heart sink at the thought and sight of him in such pain and bad shape.

"You look different. Oh I know, it's a spell!" she said as she grabbed one of his arms and pulled him to his feet with surprising ease considering he was a good 2 feet taller than her. He stood up as straight as he could and looked at her coolly.

"What was your first guess?" he said as he spat out a mouth full of blood. She looked at the small puddle of red liquid and stuck her tongue out in a small, child like disgusted manner.

"Funny…" she said sarcastically as she looked back up at him. She held her hand out to him, but as he reached out to her he froze and looked over her shoulder. She turned her head so she could see behind her and she could see a bird demon nearly on her, sword held high, ready to strike and kill.

"Kikyo, watch out!" he shouted as he pushed her out of the way. She fell sideways and landed on her side, dirtying her silky white kimono, not that she noticed. She was to busy watching InuYasha duck out of the swords way and maneuver himself so that he got hold of the sword. With the little strength he had left, he swung it and cut the demon in half, just below his breast.

"Wow, now I really owe you," she half whispered-half spoke, looking at him with a look of admiration and love in her eyes. He smiled uncomfortably, wondering why this, well, child, was looking at him like he was her savior. He fell to his knees and she caught him before he fell backwards. She looked down into his eyes and saw the same smoldering look in them that Lyn gave him when she was lost in his eyes and her thoughts. He grew more and more uncomfortable as her gaze deepened.

"I need you to take Lyn and Matt to Kaede's village," he finally said, breaking her out of her transfixion on him. She blinked rapidly a couple times and then looked back down at him questioningly.

"What about you?" she asked, her voice beginning to fill with the same kind of anxiety that Lyn's usually had when he did something she thought was stupid, but at the same time rather necessary.

"You can't transport all three of us…" he said looking into her eyes warily. The look was still there and the more he looked into her eyes, the more and more he grew worried about Lyn, and Matt.

"But I can't transport more than one at a time," she said quietly, her eyes finally downcast. He figured she could tell that his attention wasn't on her and he could tell it hurt her. She was only a young girl though, she would get over it.

"But I know two people that can help," she finally said as she laid him down and stood up. He propped himself up on his elbows and watched her as she closed her eyes, her lips moving rapidly. As she chanted, the mist around them became heavier and the smell of Mir was mixed with that of cinnamon and ginger dust. He faintly remembered the smell, but could not readily place it.

"It's nice to see you again, InuYasha," came a voice he had heard before which was followed by a face he had never seen. The woman that emerged from the mist had long silver/blue hair and whose azure eyes seemed to glow in the darkening mist. It was the eyes he recognized, like from a dream. Florina came over to greet him but frowned when she saw him. She sighed heavily and shook her head. She looked over shoulder as her assistant, the young fox demon Shippo, appeared next to her, emerging from the mist as if he had been part of it all along.

"I see you've gotten yourself into trouble again, huh?" Shippo said as he swished his tail lazily, making the mist swirl about before it settled back into its thickness. He looked over at Kiyo with eyes that seemed to burn as brightly as hers did when she gazed at InuYasha. Kiyo just turned away from him and addressed Florina.

"Yeah, and he kinda needs our help," Kiyo said, ignoring Shippo completely now. It seemed to generally annoy him and it showed. He scoffed at her and disappeared back into the mist which swirled violently and became a deep blue, as if it was reacting to or perhaps reflecting his shifty mood.

"Yes, yes, of course. You need to go to Kaedes' village correct?" Florina said gently, trying to calm the mood a bit. Her soft voice soothed InuYasha's pain and seemed to calm Kikyo almost immediately. The young girl smiled and bowed, but then frowned as she remembered a very important missing detail.

"Yes, but we need…" but she was cut short as the mist swirled again, but not with the same viciousness it had earlier when Shippo had stormed off. Instead, it was a playful convolution which blew threw their hair and kissed their faces. Kikyo looked beyond InuYasha and rolled her eyes as Shippo emerged with the "missing pieces".

"I believe you were going to mention these two?" Shippo said pointing to both Lyn and Matt who were standing next to him. Shippo looked over at Kikyo and smiled, she in turn smiled back, sarcastically of course.

"Shall we be going then?" Matt said innocently as InuYasha gave him a look of death before shaking his head. The Soul Healers laughed as each one of them took hold of their assigned wards. Shippo to Lyn; Florina to Matt; and Kikyo to InuYasha.


	8. A Trinket and Tribulation

**Author's Note: I still *tear* do not own any InuYasha characters. In my dreams perhaps, but I'm guessing that doesn't count.**

* * *

_**A Trinket and**__**Tribulation**_

**Ch. 8**

"He'll be fine dear," said a short, old woman whose wrinkled face and eye sparkled when she spoke. Lyn looked up at her and could feel the wisdom and love radiating from her. Lyn stood up and gave the old woman a hug, bending over a bit to reach her.

"Thank you so much Kaede. Your hospitality towards us and InuYasha is both much appreciated and very surprising, considering," Lyn said, turning red at the thought of how much of a fit InuYasha had when they arrived at Kaedes' village. He had cursed and spat and did everything but physically harm them. Lyn had been more than embarrassed, but Kaede had just laughed and dragged the now human InuYasha into her hut, disappearing behind the thick beaded door that blocked the entrance.

"No worries my dear, I've taken care of InuYasha's father so he was no trouble at all in comparison. Besides, I've treated InuYasha before so this time was no different," Kaede said, squeezing Lyn's hand gently, her one good, gray eye twinkling. Lyn wondered what had happened to her other eye which was covered with a brown, homemade eye patch. She wanted to ask, but thought better of it in the end. The sound of beads clattering together made both women turn around.

"Yeah, this ol' bag always takes good care of me," InuYasha said as he walked up next to Kaede and crossed his arms. Lyn marveled at how much better he looked. Kaede had reversed the spell in no time flat and now InuYasha was back to his normal, half-demon self. He still had the remnants of a few more serious wounds on the smooth skin of his bare chest, but that was all that remained. She gave him a small, relief filled expression and he smirked back at her. Kaede laughed a hearty laugh and went to hug InuYasha, or at least that's what he thought she was doing. He went to back away quickly, but instead tripped on one of the small steps leading up into the old woman's hut, falling hard onto his butt, a cloud of dry dirt puffing up from under him. She laughed again and bent over him, placing something around his neck. She chuckled a bit at the expression of pure obliviousness on his face and then disappeared back into her hut.

"What's this? A necklace...? An ugly one at that," he huffed as he looked down at the beaded necklace Kaede had strung on him. It was composed of purple beads that alternated with what seemed to be small fangs. Lyn rather liked it, but she could see that InuYasha genuinely hated it as he tried to pry it off. The thing was, he couldn't. It seemed to be glued to his neck.

"What gives witch? Why can't I take this damned thing off?" InuYasha called to her. Lyn heard the elder woman laugh again as she appeared in the doorway.

"It's an enchanted rosary. Only your next of kin can take it off," Kaede said, a malicious glint now in her eye.

"What does it do?" he said, still trying to pull it off. Kaede bent over and smacked him, making him stop fidgeting with the necklace. He looked up at her angrily, his amber eyes demanding an answer.

"Well InuYasha dear, every time Lyn says "osuwari", you will," Kaede said with a wicked smile now spreading across her face. Lyn looked about as puzzled as InuYasha, but a glance from Kaede explained it all, to Lyn at least. Revenge was a beautifully sad thing at times.

"Why would you put this thing on me if it does that?" InuYasha said, jumping to his feet. He towered a good 4 feet above Kaede, but she didn't seem the least bit intimidated by him. She just crossed her arms in front of her and titled her head back so that she was staring back at him with equally intensity.

"Because I'm just and old hag, remember?" she finally said as she turned her back on him and walked back into her hut for the last time.

"Next of kin? She means like my kid? But I don't have one!" he pouted loudly as he sat down on the dry ground and crossed his arms, grumbling somewhat loudly to himself.

"Well, I guess you're stuck like that for a while then huh?" Lyn said sitting down next to him. He sensed a bit of sadness in her, but ignored it. He was being self-centered at the moment and that was all that was on his mind; himself.

"***grumble* **I guess…" he huffed as he looked over at her. He saw that she was looking out into the forest, her moss colored eyes staring dreamily ahead of her. The sun was setting and it cast a shadow against her face, making her profile stand out with stunning beauty. Her raven black hair shone in the sun and blew gently in the breeze. A few strands brushed against his face and he reached out and turned her face towards his. She smiled and grabbed his hand. He noticed then that her eyes held a heavy sadness that was reflected in her smile.

"It's ok, I'm sure you'll have some kids soon," she said, her voice softer than usual, but it was also carrying a heaviness he had never heard before and it made him uneasy.

"Oh yeah? Promise me?" he replied, looking at her more intensely, trying to understand what it was that was that was making her so withdrawn and sad.

"I can't promise that it will be anytime soon, I've got to go home," she said, turning away from him and looking in the direction of the well which was buried deep within the heart of his forest.

"Really? I'll come with you then," he said. He was beginning to realize and hope to the Gods that what he thought was causing her withdraw was not really the true cause. He hoped it was just home sickness or something else. Deep within his heart of hearts though, he knew he wasn't wrong.

"No, you stay here, this is were you belong," she said with a sad smile filled with the pain of betrayal. His heart sank into the pit of his stomach and was drowned by the guilt he felt and anger at letting himself get caught up in such an ugly situation. But he was surprised and equally hurt that she would think that it was in anyway his idea or true intention. after all they had been through in the last year and a half, how could she think he would do such a thing?

"But Lyn, I swear I didn't kiss her back!" InuYasha said as he tried to get her to look at him, to see that it truly wasn't his fault and that he really hadn't. The memory of what had happened flooded his mind's eye and he began to relive the moment in his head.

***Flashback***

"How are you feeling InuYasha?" came Kikyo's soft voice from the doorway. She was standing there alone, her figure blocking out the sunlight that was filtering in. It made her look like a black shadow in his doorway; like Death.

"A lot better now. By the way, thanks for coming to get us," he said as he sat up, stretched and swung his legs off the edge of the cot on which he had been resting. He looked back up at her and noticed that she was closer to him now. Not much, but he could tell by the shadow she cast that she had moved a good 3 feet closer to him. It made him extremely uneasy because her she didn't have an aura so he couldn't read what her intentions were.

"It was the least I could do for you InuYasha. I would do anything for you, I love you," she said as she rapidly advanced on him. He knew now what she wanted to do with him and he tried to find an escape route. She had blocked the entire doorway and she was faster than he was in his present recovering state. There was no way out besides crashing through the wall, which he would do if worst came to worst.

"Woah, look Kikyo, I'm very flattered and all but I definitely don't love you. I love Lyn and you know it, so if you could just move out of my way," he said as he tried to get up and push past her. She reached up and grabbed his shoulders, shoving him back onto the bed with the same surprising strength she exhibited back in the forest and climbed on top of him. He tried to push her off, but her weight seemed to triple and it felt like Moryomaru was lying on top of him and he cursed his weakened state. If he ever saw both Sango and Miroku again, he would succeed in doing to them what they failed to do to him; he would kill them both.

"We belong with each other InuYasha! Don't you see it? Were both powerful beings and with Lyn out of the picture we could do anything!" she said as she moved her head closer to his and held his arms down. Now he was completely pinned underneath her. The more he fought against her, the more she seemed to weigh. It was like being trapped in a pythons death squeeze; the more you struggle, the tighter they wound around you.

"Damnit, she's strong; to strong. What in the seven hells is she?" InuYasha thought as continued to wriggle and push against her. She squeezed his arms and held them down with such force that he heard the cot cracking under their combined weight. He knew he was trapped.

"Kiss me InuYasha! Kiss me and show me you love me too!" she cried as she smashed her lips onto his. It hurt as her teeth bit into his lips, drawing blood. She forced open his mouth and shoved her tongue into his mouth. She tasted like ash and her lips were as cold as a winter night. She was beginning to rub herself against him and he felt her grip loosen enough for him to get away.

"Son a bitch Kikyo! I told you no for Christ sake! I love Lyn, not you. Now get the holy fuck off of me and don't come near me again!" he said as he shoved her off with somewhat unnecessary force, causing her to topple off of him backwards, landing with such force that the hut momentarily shook. She looked up at him, her dead, black eyes burning angry holes into him. He just spat out her taste, wiped off his lips and left the hut. But what he didn't know was that while Kikyo was violating him, Lyn had peeked into the hut to check on him. She had seen his body arched up against Kikyo in what she interpreted as extreme pleasure, though it was actual futile attempt at escape. She had seen Kikyo's lips smashed against his, her eyes closed in lusty pleasure. Lyn's heart, at that moment, seemed to evaporate inside her chest and anyone happening to look in her direction as she backed away from the hut would have thought that she was but a ghost. Her skin had turned from its soft, milky color to an ashy, almost sickly grey. No tears ran down her face for all emotion escaped her. No anger, no sadness; just the scene of his betrayal playing again and again in her head, burning her eyes and maiming her soul. She turned and fled to Kaede's hut where she finally collapsed, in heavy sobs and cries, within the old woman's arms.

***End Flashback***

"Ssshhh," Lyn said in a soft, barely audible whisper as she placed a quivering finger on his lips. His eyes were wide with disbelief and regret. She saw that he was truly sorry for what she had seen, but she knew that this could not be remedied. Not now and perhaps not ever. She would separate herself from him in body and hopefully both mind and soul would follow.

"Goodbye InuYasha, I'm sure you'll find someone who can give you what you've always wanted; someone who is more like you in everyway. Someone who isn't me," she said, tears threatening to spill from her now sparkling viridian eyes. He stood up and pulled her to him. She tried to push away but he held her tighter.

"Please InuYasha," she whispered. He squeezed her tighter one last time and let her go. He gazed at her and then saw the scars left from his mark and he knew that he would never find another. She saw his gaze on her neck and she quickly covered the markings, her own pain at the feel of the small bumps increasing ten fold. She turned around and began to walk away. She heard him come after her and began to walk faster. He still followed.

"InuYasha, osuwari, osuwari, osuwari, _**SIT**_!" she yelled. She heard him hit the ground with overwhelming force. She heard him howl as his body bored deeper into the ground with each command and each howl pierced her heart like a white hot dagger. Finally the commands stopped and he found himself face down in a 10-foot hole. He shook his head, clearing his vision and mouth of dirt, swearing that he wouldn't let her get away. Before he could crawl out and go after her though, he realized something that made him want to crawl deeper into his little hidey hole: she was gone.


	9. 500 Years To Eternity

**Authors Note:** **OK, trying to speed up the publishing process but school and life has been getting in the way recently. Oh, and if I have the time lengths wrong here, please feel free to let me know so I can fix it. KK? And I still do not own InuYasha and any related characters, but I wish he would own me ^_-.**

* * *

_**500 Years to Eternity**_

**Ch. 9**

"Happy birthday InuYasha!" Matt and Kagome said as Kagome ran over to InuYasha, her long scarlet kimono trailing behind her as she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. Matt just nodded and smiled as he followed her. It had been almost 4 years since Kagome had decided to go with Matt back to the feudal era; it had also been almost 500 years since Lyn had left. Matt would occasionally go back to the future and bring back news of her, but that was all InuYasha had left of her.

"Thanks guys…" InuYasha said, forcing a smile to surface on his lips. His pain at her loss had not been eased over the time he had been without her. He knew he would probably never see her again, not in this lifetime anyway.

"Oh, don't be so glum. I'm sure her knew boyfriend won't last that long," Matt said shrugging, trying to give his life long friend some sort of hope. He saw the hurt in his friends' eyes. The same eyes that had once been so feisty and full of life's glow now rarely shined and had no happiness, no anger, no nothing; only emptiness.

"Yeah…" InuYasha said as he looked off into the distance as the sun set. It was a full moon tonight and he felt the beginning of his transformation. He hated these nights because being human made him feel so much farther form her. In this form he couldn't smell her Jasmine scent that lingered in the well and he couldn't hear the trees whisper her name in the night.

"She's not coming back, is she Matt…" he said as he ran his claws through his now dingy white hair. He turned towards his friend, his amber eyes beginning to become a heavy brown. The brown of his eyes and the black of his hair suited his new demeanor perfectly.

"...no, not this time. I'm sorry InuYasha," Matt said as walked up to his friend and placed a hand on his shoulder. InuYasha just looked at him, gave him a smile of understanding and also of great sorrow before he bounded off into the trees. Matt knew he was headed towards Lyn's well in the heart of his forest. There he would sit and ponder a life of loneliness and perhaps to shed a tear or so.

"InuYasha, the most feared demon in this world; scary," Matt said absent mindedly. Kagome stood at the railing and sighed as she watched him disappear into the night. She turned towards Matt and saw him still staring off into the moon draped night. She smiled at how handsome he looked and how he had matured in the last few years. Although they had just come back to the feudal era 4 years ago, his changes and maturity steadily grew everyday. Her heart fluttered every time he touched her and she knew that he would be hers and she his. It was a love she thought she would never find. She only had to look into the past to find it.

"Will he be ok, Matt?" Kagome asked as she walked over to him. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her against him. She bit her tongue as she felt a small gasp try to escape her. She instead burrowed her head into his chest and lavished in the warmth of him and his steady, strong heartbeat.

"I hope so babe, I really do," he said as he kissed her forehead and rested his chin upon her head; true happiness. This is what Lyn and InuYasha must have felt in each others presence; wrapped in each others arms. Her heart ached at the thought of InuYasha's sadness and wished she could share her happiness with him.

"I hope so, too," she said as Matt lead her off the balcony into the bedroom. He let her go and walked over to the bed, shedding his familiar, red robe and laying on the bed waiting for her to join him. She began to walk towards the bed but stopped as she heard an anguished howl echo in the night. She hugged her kimono tighter around her and sighed, eyes downcast as she walked over to her bed and to the man she loved.

* * *

"Happy birthday Lyn!" shouted Miroku and Sango as they walked up next to Lyn and each gave her a tight hug; it had been a year and a few months since she had left the feudal era and InuYasha, but it felt like an eternity to her.

"Thanks guys, but my birthdays not for another month. I wish Sain were here though…" Lyn said as she looked back at the setting sun as her thoughts wandered first to Sain and then to InuYasha. She just sighed and closed her eyes, pushing away the thoughts of the both of them. Sango and Miroku looked at each other and Sango shook her head once and sighed. She knew that Lyn was thinking about him again and she was helpless to help her.

"Um, Lyn? Sain left to the states yesterday. He said it wasn't working out. He said he couldn't live in InuYasha's shadow anymore…" Sango said with an uncomfortable, I-don't-know-what-to-say smiles playing on her lips. Lyn sighed heavily, as if her lungs were full of the tears she hadn't spilled. She turned towards her two closest friends and smiled half heartedly before turning back towards the orange, dusk sky.

"Oh...I figured," she said as she watched the sun disappear and smiled a bit as she gazed into the starry, moon filled sky. It was bloated and orange and as she looked into it she thought she saw his face appear, and, if only for a few seconds, she had felt happy.

"Look Lyn, I know you miss InuYasha, but it was for the better," Miroku said, trying to comfort his friend. He didn't know what to do; he was torn between what he had heard and what had been seen. He knew that Lyn wasn't happy here, but would she be able to trust him alone again?

"Yeah…" she said as she rubbed her neck. As she did she felt the scar his mark left and let her fingers linger there. Her mind wandered to the night it had happened. She had thought of how heartbroken and dead she had felt when she saw InuYasha and Kikyo together, but she also felt immensely stupid and angry, especially at herself, for not going back when she learned that InuYasha had genuinely done nothing with that damned Soul Healer. She had known Miroku knew something after he and Sango came back from their visit to the feudal era and she wanted to know what. So, the night after they returned, she had made him some warm milk, with a bit of a special surprise mixed in and he had gone right to sleep. That's when she had asked him questions about what he had known and heard while back home. Even in a deep sleep the monk was hesitant, but she had finally learned that he had spoken to Kikyo whom had told him that InuYasha had resisted the entire time. And, true to the monk's nature, as Lyn was getting up to leave, he had reached out and caressed her bottom. She had punched him in the head and stormed off, leaving the dazed and injured monk alone in the dark. Even today the bruise from her punch was visible just below his hairline. She stared at the moon one last time before she wiped around and grabbed the monk's shoulders roughly. He flinched reflexively, but then opened his eyes and looked at her in complete confusion with a hint of fear.

"I'm going back…" she said calmly as she stared intently into the monks wide eyes. At first he wasn't sure what she meant, but then his eyes widened even further and he began to shake his head.

"Back? Oh...oh! I don't know Lyn, I mean with him and Kikyo and everything," he said, frowning slightly. She smiled slyly back at him and whispered something into his ear. As the words left her lips, Sango saw the monks eyes begin to shine with glossy fear. She pulled away and he chuckled nervously.

"Oh yeah, of course you can go back. I know InuYasha would love to see you and know you have forgiven him," Miroku said almost robotically. Lyn smiled, her teeth flashing in the moonlight. Sango was even more puzzled and began to address her friend, still looking at her boyfriend with curiosity and suspicion.

"But Lyn, we don't know were to find him if we did go back. Why would you even want to _**GO**_ back anyway?" Sango asked, still clearly puzzled. She knew Lyn had some sort of epiphany, but wasn't sure what kind. She also knew that Miroku had something to do about it too and it made her suspicious and a little bit pissed that she had been left out of the loop.

"I know now that I have to and should have a long time ago. I'll explain it all later, promise! Are you in then?" she said, deciding that she would let Miroku tell Sango about the whole situation with Kikyo and anything he wanted to tell her, or leave out. By the way she was eyeing him, she knew that Sango meant for the monk to tell her, whether or not she did first or not.

"Lead the way!" Sango said as she saw Lyn truly smile for the first since she left InuYasha.

* * *

"Lyn, I miss you…" InuYasha thought to himself as he sat atop the overlooking the well she had disappeared into the day Kikyo had kissed him. She had gone in and never came back and it hurt him more than any one of his deaths had. He had come to the Goshinboku every night since she had left; he vainly hoped that he would smell her sweet scent again and see her coming through the well, her green eyes sparkling in the moonlight. Every night for the past 500 years he had come and she hadn't, but he continued, never giving up the hope that she would. This night was no different.

"I was so stupid; I can't believe I let her do that. But what's done is done, I guess," he said as he looked away and leaned against a tree branch, closing his now chocolate eyes and crossing his arms inside his fire rat kimono. He sighed heavily and was soon asleep.

* * *

"Here we are," Sango said as she landed gracefully on her feet, next to Miroku who was sprawled on his face. Lyn appeared next to Sango and she as well landed on her feet, but on top of Miroku. He grunted as the air rushed out of his lungs and Lyn stepped off of him, apologetically. The monk huffed and stood up, brushing off his dark blue robes.

"What the holy hells? Where's the ladder? How do we get up there now, fly?" Miroku pouted as he looked up at the night sky, realizing that it was also a full moon here too. He looked back at Lyn who was studying the sides of the well walls intently.

"We can climb these vines!" Lyn suddenly said as she grabbed a thick, worn vine and started to climb. She was the first one up followed shortly by Sango. The two waited at the top for Miroku for a good 2 minutes before the looked down into the well which was illuminated by the moon's intense glow. There was Miroku, tangled in a vine web, he was exhausted from struggling and hung there limply. The girls shook their heads and proceeded back down the vines to Miroku. Sango wrapped her arm around one vine and revealed another hidden saber from a strap on her arm and cut the monk free. Lyn grabbed him as he was cut free and swung him onto the wall, forcefully. He hit the wall and nearly bounced back off, but somehow managed to cling to it and climb to the top.

"Thanks guys," Miroku said as he hoisted himself over the edge and collapsed to the ground, leaning on the outer walls of the well.

"Yeah, anytime," Lyn said absently as Sango kneeled down next to him and gently picked off pieces of vine still stuck to him. As Sango tended to Miroku, Lyn looked up at the trees, searching for him. She finally spotted him in the Goshinboku where he was fast asleep. She gazed at him for a few moments before she heard a loud smack from behind her and Sango angry hissing.

"Damnit you perverted monk! Keep your hands to yourself!" she hissed, her back turned to him and Lyn saw that her face was fire red with anger and embarrassment.

"I just couldn't help myself my beautiful Sango. I just couldn't resist the gentleness of your touch," Miroku said as he rubbed his face where an angry red hand print was now forming. Sango made her way over to Lyn, but she put her finger to her lips and pointed to the tree. Both Sango and Miroku looked up and nodded in understanding.

"How are you…" Miroku said but stopped as he saw the glint of revelation sparkling in Lyn's eyes. He didn't know what she planned to do, but knew she had something planned.

"You guys stay here, I've got an idea," she whispered as she gingerly tip-toed over to the Goshinboku tree. She looked up and her aquamarine eyes glowing as intensely in the shadows of the trees as the moon. She reached the tree and placed her fingertips on it, feeling the rough bark and letting his memory and scent assault her. Her senses were always hyper-sensitive when she was back in the feudal era and she savored the sensations she felt. She traced the scar on the tree from when InuYasha was wounded by a hunter when he went on one of his "business trips." She looked up and a sinister smile spread across her gentle features.

"InuYasha..._**SIT**_!" she yelled. Amber eyes shot open as InuYasha slammed into the ground. A cloud of dust, dirt and grass plumed up as his body made contact. Leaves drifted down from broken braches and Lyn bent down next to the depression and giggled softly.

"What in the seven hells; Lyn…?" he said as looked up and saw her kneeling next to him. Her head was in her hands and her elbows were rested on her bent knees. She had a smile on her face and her eyes were large and alive. He felt his heart stop as all of his senses save his sight seemed to vanish. He stared at her and reached up to touch her hesitantly, afraid that when he touched her she would disappear into the air like a phantom nightmare. He touched her smooth skin and she placed a hand on his, leaning into his touch. She closed her eyes and moved his hand to her mouth, kissing it gently. She opened her eyes and looked at him, her gaze burning into him.

"Hello InuYasha…" she said softly, her voice watery but still strong. It did not quaver and he admired the strength she had in controlling her emotions. She had not changed at all in the past years and he thanked the Gods for it.

"...you came back," he was finally able to say. His voice was soft and watery as he felt the tears that he held back for the past 500 years threaten to drown him. He swallowed the large lump that had formed in his throat and inhaled deeply, taking as much of scent in as he possibly could in his human form. She was a drug to him and it was about time he got his next fix.

"I had too, it was wrong of me to have left you. I should have known you wouldn't ever do something like that. For…" but she was stopped by a finger on her lips. He sat up and pulled her into him, savoring her warmth. She grabbed the front of his kimono and buried her face into it.

"Stupid girl, you have no reason to apologize. I was the fool who allowed himself to be cornered by a child. Now hush with your sincerities," he said. She pulled away from him and studied his face. His skin was washed by the moon's soft glow and that's when she noticed that he was in his human form. She frowned as she reached up and ran her fingers through his hair, past the point where his ears usually were.

"Your ears are gone," she said absently. He reached up and pulled her hand down. He held it and pulled her close once again.

"Hmmmm...I've waited over 500 years for you to rub them and now you can't," he whispered into her ear. He felt her body tense against him and then shake slightly as his words flowed through her. She pulled her head away, keeping her body pressed to his. She peered into his eyes, a mischievous glow in them.

"Really, because I've waited that long for something else," she said as she wrapped her arms around him and threw all her weight into him. He lost his balance and fell onto his back with Lyn still on him. At first he was confused, but that confusion soon past as he felt her hot, sweet breath on his neck and her teeth nip his ear playfully.

"That's my girl, but Lyn, about the day you left. I…" he began to say, but she stopped him with her lips. They were warm and tasted of strawberries. He needed her more than he had ever before, but she pulled away abruptly, leaving him kissing the air.

"Now ssshhh and don't ruin it. Save your sincerities, silly inu," she whispered, mocking him slightly. He let it pass and soon he was in a world filled with the scent of Jasmine, the taste of strawberry and the blissful ecstasy he found within her.

"I think we should be going…" Miroku said quietly as he started walk, then jog, then run into the forest. Sango was still transfixed at the sight of Lyn and InuYasha and hardly noticed when Miroku disappeared into the dark of the Forest of InuYasha. It wasn't until a rock, throw from somewhere within the forest, hit her in the side of the head did she notice that she was standing in the well clearing, watching her Lyn and InuYasha. She turned a shade of red brighter that InuYasha's fire-rat kimono and turned around toward the forest. She saw Miroku waving her towards him so vigorously that it was a miracle he didn't dislocate his shoulder.

"Wait up!" Sango said as she ran after him, but not without stealing a last quick glance back at the intertwined lovers.


	10. A Wedding, A Wish and A Kiss Goodnight

_**Author's Note**_**:** _**Fina-freaking-ly! I'm so damn sorry its taking this long to get this done, but I've been doing 3 other stories and this one just fell to the waste side...again. Anyway, here's chapter 10!** **ENJOY YO!**_

* * *

**Ch. 10**

**A Wedding, A Wish and a Kiss Goodnight  
**

"Shippo, Kikyo, Florina! It's so nice to see you guys again," the sing-song voice of Kagome cooed as the three Soul Healers walked into the large hut where many others had gathered. The large thatched hut smelled of roast duck, lamb and some other species of animal and demon, alike. It was festively decorated with white, red and gold trimmings and every man, woman and child were dressed in their best ceremonial kimonos and obi's. Everyone in the village had come to see the marriage of Kagome and Matthew.  
"It's nice to here and not have to save InuYasha or Matthew," Kikyo said happily as she hugged Kagome. It had been a good number of years since the incident with Kikyo and InuYasha and since then all had been forgiven. There was no use in holding a grudge against a love swept child, and the relationship she had with all members of the group, save InuYasha who wanted nothing to do with her, was a close one.  
"Speaking of Matt, where has he disappeared too?" Florina asked Kagome, her bright eyes scanning the large enclosure for the thief. When she didn't see him, her eyes darkened a bit, but only momentarily. He would show, one way or another.  
"I haven't the slightest idea, but if he isn't here in 5 minutes, I'll marry InuYasha instead!" Kagome huffed, crossing her bare arms across her chest.  
"Nice ring," a soft yet, gruff voice said from behind Kagome. She jumped a bit before she twirled around excitedly, her long, white wedding gown twirling with her. It was a beautiful silk gown that was decorated with red and gold embroideries that twisted across her chest, abdomen, and all the way down to her feet. Each twist ended at her right side where it was tied into a small knot of color. It was a halter and her bare chest was sparkling with natural glitters and had a few wispy, soft strands of her raven hair splayed across it. Her hair was done up in a large bun and was held in place by two hair sticks; one red and one gold.

"I thought you were never gonna show up! Oh, it's only you…" Kagome said as she was met by a wall of pure InuYasha. He just rolled his eyes and put his hands in the pockets of the suit Lyn had made him for the wedding. He hated the colors because there was no red; it was too tight; and it was itchy, but he wore it to keep Lyn, Kagome, and Sango from bitching him to death.  
"I had to make sure that all the guests were here, just in case you were wondering," InuYasha said sarcastically, knowing full well that the only thing she cared about right now was finding Matt. He also knew something else weighed heavily on her mind too, and after beating it out of Matt (literally), he had made sure that she had one less thing to worry herself with. InuYasha may have seemed like a jerk from the day she met him until know, but he had a softer, more protective side and he always kept good care of _**ALL**_ of his friends.  
"All the guests aren't here. My family isn't here, but I guess it's for the better," Kagome said, her voice heavy and flat. InuYasha could sense the pain in her and smell the faint tinge of salt in the air as she quickly turned away and wiped a single tear from her face. She sighed as she began to walk away, her white gown fluttering in the wind.**  
**"Wait Kagome…" InuYasha called to her. He saw her hesitate, then stop. Her shoulders were slumped and her skin seemed dry and had no glow to it. The wind blew through the hut and her hair and gown were swept up and around her, but she didn't move. She finally stood straight up and turned her head to faced him, her brown eyes almost black with sadness.  
"What is it InuYasha?" she said softly to him, and as a few rays of sun fell across her faced, he saw that her large brown eyes alive with emotion; sadness, anxiety, joy, and a bit of loneliness. He just huffed and smiled slightly as he stood aside. As he did her eyes grew wide with astonishment. There behind InuYasha was her mother, younger brother, and grandfather. She started towards them slowly at first, but quickly hiked up her dress and ran towards them. She crashed into her mother, embracing her in a bear hug, tears flowing from her eyes.  
"You came," she said to her mother as she let her go and hugged her brother and grandfather. They all were dressed just as formal and ceremonial as everyone else, but they had on red and gold to show that they were the bride's family. Matt's family would have been dressed in blue and black, but he had no family so Sango, Miroku, InuYasha, and Lyn all had on the grooms colors. Tonight they were his family for all intentional purposes.  
"Yeah, InuYasha came and got us. We're also sorry for the things we said about Matt and then saying you were crazy and everything," her little brother said as he looked down at his feet, a deep blush of apology and embarrassment flushing his face. Her mother and grandfather did the same, showing their shame in branding their family member insane and banishing her from their home. Now they were sorry and begging for her forgiveness by bowing their heads, a show of shame. She wiped away her tears and bowed to them in a show of forgiveness. They all embraced one another and then Kagome turned towards InuYasha, her makeup beginning to run. He crossed his arms and looked away.

"I though you hated me!" she exclaimed, hugging him tightly. He remained rigid beneath her grasp and when she pulled away he smoothed out and brushed off his suit. He re-crossed his arms and again looked away from her.  
"Feh…" he said as he walked away into the crowd. Kagome watched him go and sighed heavily. It was no longer a sigh of unhappiness or heavy-half hardheartedness but instead of weariness.  
"Why does he seem so...distant?" her grandpa asked looking at the half demon as he stopped at the balcony on the other side of the hut. It was perched on the edge of Kaede's village, on a steep cliff overlooking a vast ocean and InuYasha was leaning heavily on the railing of the balcony that hung off the side of the cliff. A strong salty breeze blew up from the water below and blew his hair around his face, but he made no attempt to keep it in check. Instead he just leaned heavier on the railing, pushing himself in to the breeze.**  
**"It's probably Lyn. He loves her so much no matter what he says or does. He wants to tell her, but he just can't seem to make the idea stick. _Considering __after__ all the times he did and didn't mean it," _she said, keeping the last thought to herself.  
"Why can't he make it 'stick'? Doesn't Lyn know she does, I mean, it's rather obvious," her brother asked as he sighed and crossed his arms within his silk red and gold kimono. Kagome looked down at him and half smiled and half frowned.  
"Because Lyn is a complicated girl, she came here with a guy," Kagome said, a hint of pure distaste in her voice. Her mother looked up at her, a bit surprised at her daughters tone. She had never heard that type of tone come from Kagome before because she was always so nice to everyone. If Kagome didn't like him, then he must not be a pleasant person.  
"But I thought they were back together," her mother asked. While Kagome and her mother were still talking, she had told her all about InuYasha and Lyn and everything about them. The last she had heard, Lyn had come back to the feudal era and all was peachy keen.  
"They were, but she met Naraku after she heard about Kikyo and InuYasha._Again, when will he learn_?" she said, again keeping the last part to herself. She shook her head and turned towards the rest of the hut, anxious to catch a glimpse of her future husband.

"I wonder what she sees in him," her mother said to herself as she followed her daughter through the crowd so they could redo Kagome's hair and makeup in her dressing room. Walking away, she stole a last glance back at InuYasha before she looked back at her daughter and forgot all about him, for the time being.

* * *

"Are you ready Naraku?" Lyn whispered to the tall man standing next to her. His reddish eyes and pale skin seemed to glow in the setting sun. He turned his head and, standing a good foot taller than her, looked down and smiled. White pointed fangs glistened in the suns dying glare and she smiled back in return.  
"Of course my dearest niece. Why wouldn't I be?" he replied as he bent down and kissed her forehead gently. She hugged him in return and he pulled away, staring deep into her mossy eyes. He saw everything behind them and felt proud that she was the last of his blood line.  
"OK, but be careful, I don't want him to hurt you or anything…" she said as he walked away toward InuYasha. A final glance behind him showed a scenic picture. She was standing near the entrance of the ceremonial hut, the near set sun pouring over her in an orange and fiery red glaze. Her green eyes burned as brightly as his; a green fire that smoldered true beauty, love, and ultimate power. Smiling to smugly his self, he went about his assigned mission of finding InuYasha. **  
**

* * *

"InuYasha, I presume?" Naraku said as he leaned against the balcony next to him. InuYasha glared at him and growled deeply before he turned his head back toward the sunset. Naraku chuckled to himself and folded his hands across his chest. He was enjoying himself already.  
"Lyn tells me you met another girl while she was back home," he said, hoping to antagonize the half-demon some more. He was entitled to just a little fun before all the serious work began.  
"Never. But she's one to talk. She brought _**YOU**_ here," InuYasha said, spitting out _**YOU**_ with more poison that the tips of his late half-brothers talons. Naraku was far more amused than he thought he was going to be by now. But enough fun, it was time to do what Lyn had asked.  
"Why do care so much?" Naraku asked as he looked away from InuYasha, knowing full well why he cared so much. It was a question he needed to ask though, just for a bit of clarity before proceeding.  
"Why do you care?" InuYasha said. He was getting annoyed with the 20 questions game Naraku was playing with him. All the despicable demon wanted was to rub the fact that he had Lyn now in his face and he would not stand for it much longer. What little pride he had left he meant to defend.  
"Well, it might be because I'm her uncle and I need to look out for her…" Naraku said as he pushed himself off the balcony railing, placing his hands in the pockets of his black, tailored suit pants. He stood with his back to InuYasha, reading his response by the change in the heaviness of the air."Her uncle? You mean you not her boyfriend?" InuYasha asked as he spun around to look at Naraku. He stared in disbelief at the tall demons back. Naraku smiled, his fangs glistening as he turned his head back towards InuYasha.  
"Nope. So where's your girlfriend at anyway? Kikyo I think her name is," Naraku said, changing the subject quickly. He looked back towards the inside of the hut, satisfied that the change of subject would throw InuYasha off the subject of Lyn's relation to himself. It was getting steadily busier as the time grew closer to the start of the wedding ceremony. His sharp eyes studied the crowd, looking for the young Kikyo.  
"Kikyo? She's not my girlfriend. I only want one but she doesn't want me," InuYasha said as he started to walk past Naraku. This sudden change in the hanyuo's mood surprised Naraku, although the expression played only in his cerise eyes. **  
**"Wait, are you saying you have it bad for Lyn? The big bad InuYasha in love with a human girl? Now I've seen it all," Naraku said. InuYasha ignored him and dropped down next to a tree and hung his head. He raised his knees and put his forehead to them, draping his arms over his head. It was the ultimate position of exhaustion, loss, and sadness. Naraku did not expect the young half-demon to be in such pitiful shape.  
"Everyone just thought Lyn was your booty call or something, not your love interest! Especially after the monk caught you necking with the Soul Healer," Naraku said as he sat down next to him. He did not look over at the inu, it was his private moment of contemplation and shame. No need to ruin it by staring at him.  
"I wasn't! She cornered me again!" he protested, but he knew that it was a lie. After Lyn went back home, he did start dating Kikyo, thinking that her close resemblance to Lyn would help him grieve her loss, but it he ended it soon after. Her clinginess and obsession with him became too much, especially after she tried to put a curse on a young maiden who had come to Kaede's village seeking help with a demon problem in her own village. Thanks to Miroku though, Lyn knew about his short fling with her. He wondered why she cared though, she was going out with someone when she went back home too. It made him mad, but as he thought about it, it was Kikyo after all. He guessed he knew why she would be jealous.  
"Umm, does Lyn know about me...loving her though?" InuYasha said, surprised at the words that had just escaped him. He hadn't even been thinking about that, so what had made him say such a thing? His recent changes over the last few hundred years had surprised him as much as it surprised everyone else.  
"I thought she did, but now I'm not sure. You should tell her, and mean it this time. I know, ask her to marry you," Naraku said nonchalantly. InuYasha's head snapped up and whipped in Naraku's direction. His amber eyes were alive with surprise and anger.  
"What? But she doesn't even love me, so stop toying with me goddamnit!" he said as he jumped to his feet in frustration. He turned away from the sitting Naraku and growled loudly in annoyance. He turned back towards Naraku, turned away again and punched the tree Naraku was reclining on, putting a hole straight through the thickest part of the trunk.

"Oh yes she does, believe me" Naraku said, opening his eyes and peering up at the fuming half-breed. The impressive display of power and anguish sealed the deal. The hanyuo loved Lyn, and he would tell her that, completing the part of the "mission" she had sent him on. Now it was his turn to complete a little task he had been planning since he had learned of her little predicament with InuYasha. What he had planned would surely put a stop to this endless bickering and loyalty questioning one and for all. His plans never failed.  
"But you just said you weren't sure?" InuYasha exclaimed, clearly now more puzzled and frustrated than before. Naraku had to fight back a smile that threatened to ruin his plans.  
"I lied. Are you or are you not?" Naraku asked impatiently. InuYasha collapsed down next to him again, hung his head, and sat there and thought it over. His mind was running on overdrive and it felt like smoke should have been pouring out of his ears. After about a minute or two, he had finally decided. **  
**"I don't have a ring," he finally said as he raised his head. A faint smile on formed on his lips. Now Naraku let the smile he had been holding back surface. All was going according to plan as expected.**  
**"I thought you'd never ask," Naraku said as he produced a thin gold ring from his breast pocket. On the top of the thin gold band was a semi-large diamond that shone with such brilliance it was almost hard to look at. The last of the sun's cool rays fell onto the diamond and the glittering surface broke the ray into millions of colored lights. The lights danced on their faces and across the cool ground, but soon the colors blended and formed a large rainbow colored dog. It resembled InuYasha's father when he was in his true form; large (though not life sized), and prideful. It amazed InuYasha and he looked at Naraku with a puzzled look on his face.  
"Is this the Eternal Soul diamond?" InuYasha said in amazement. He watched as the rainbow dog pulsated brightly, howling a cascade of bright red, gold, and blue. Naraku handed the ring over to the awed hanyuo, stopping the flow of sun from hitting it. He looked into InuYasha's wide eyes and his face grew somber. **  
**"It is a family heir loom and for the last 500 years, it has been giving everyone that held it the same puzzling light show as you just witnessed. It wasn't until I learned of Lyn and then of you that I understood what the sign meant," Naraku said, a slight sadness filling his usually sarcastic and bored voice."But only the Senpai Akki demon blood line carriers this diamond,"InuYasha said as he looked up at the smirking Naraku. As he looked into his florid eyes, he sensed a type of urgency that flooded Naraku's normally unreadable aura. He peered deeper into him, but was stopped as Naraku looked away and into the now dark sky.**  
**"I am full blooded demon Senpai Akki. The last of my kind with the exception of Lyn and her half- blooded brother of course," Naraku said as he walked away, but as he did, a small, sad smile formed on his lips. Emotion was never Naraku's forte, much like Sesshomaru. However, he was prone to his moments, and as he thought of his late brother, a deep sadness filled him. It was a comforting thought to know, though, that he was no longer the last of his noble and ancient race.  
"Hold up demon boy. Are you telling me Lyn's a demon too?" InuYasha said, astonishment now taking the place of bewilderment in his voice. Naraku stopped, sighed for good effect, and turned back towards him.  
"Yes," he said bluntly. The pain in InuYasha's eyes didn't startle Naraku as much as he had anticipated. This hanyuo was more like his father than he knew.  
"Then I'm not worthy of her," InuYasha said as he handed the ring back to Naraku and walked past him. Naraku held the ring in his hand, anger beginning to grip him. There was no way this half-breed was going to ruin this for him. Lyn needed a mate with strength, dignity, and ancient blood. InuYasha wasn't the perfect candidate, but with his brother dead, he would have to do. InuTaisho's blood flowed through his veins and if the half-breed ever decided to become full youkia then he would rival any that had come before him. Pain and blood flowed from Naraku's hand as he squeezed the ring and the diamond bit into the soft flesh of his palm. He took a deep breath and turned towards the fleeting InuYasha.

"Don't give me that damned pride thing InuYasha. You're father didn't have that type of pride when he mated with your mortal mother," Naraku said as he caught up with him. InuYasha looked straight ahead at the waning crescent moon. The light was reflected in his gilded eyes and Naraku saw pain and inner struggle reflected in the orbs. He supposed InuYasha had never before felt this much pain and he pitied him. Never the less, he had to accept Naraku's marriage proposal of Lyn; whether now or soon, it would be accepted. He sensed that maybe he was pushing the subject to hard for the hanyuo looked delicate in the pallid moonlight. **  
**"It's not right, she's more powerful than I could ever be. I'm not worthy Naraku," InuYasha said as he finally stopped walking and turned towards him. Stone cold determination met annoyance and the two looked at each other for a long while, waiting for the other to finally give in. InuYasha's fists were clenched to the point where his knuckles were white and the soft pitter-pat of blood dripping from his palms to the ground could be heard. Naraku lifted his head and looked up at the moon. The ring in his hand burned him, as it had done many times before. It was no longer his to hold. He looked back at the half-breed who had caused him so much trouble in the last hour and huffed. He lowered his head, bowed and back away.  
"I understand. Please, take this though. In case you change your mind, for it is no longer mine to hold," Naraku said as he held the ring out to InuYasha. The ring was glowing brightly even in the dark. Respecting Naraku's seceding wish, InuYasha reached for the ring. As his talons touched it, its glow became unbelievable bright, making Naraku noticeable flinch as the diamond burned him deeper. InuYasha wanted to pull away, but couldn't; he was drawn to the diamond and soon he had picked it up from Naraku's charred palm and held it tight in his hand. He felt the power pulsate through him. He breathed in deeply and smelled his father's scent. He opened his eyes and looked in Naraku's crimson gaze.

"I'm still not worthy Naraku. I never will be," he said as he placed the ring inside his inner jacket pocket. A soft breeze smelling of cinnamon made the two turn around towards the direction of the hut.

"Maybe I can help then,"a familiar young voice said and it made InuYasha's blood boil.  
"Shippo. What the hell do you want?" InuYasha growled. The young Soul Healer looked at him with a smile on his face. Naraku could sense that there was an uneasy and potentially violent tension between the two and it intrigued him.  
"Just came to help that's all," Shippo said, his orange hair illuminated by the ceremonial torches that were lit behind him. InuYasha's growl deepened and Naraku could sense an immense hate for Shippo coming from him. InuYasha made a move towards Shippo, but Naraku held fast onto the hanyuo's left shoulder and held him back.  
"Why don't you guys like each other?"Naraku asked Shippo. He saw Shippo's eyes burned with the memory. Whatever the memory was though, it amused Shippo for he chuckled trembled with fury under Naraku's firm grip.  
"I hit on Lyn while they were still together and she hit back," Shippo said. Naraku fully expected InuYasha to rip free of his grasp and tear Shippo to pieces. Shippo seemed to be expecting this to, for he had moved back a few feet. Instead, InuYasha's eyes lit up with idea and tribulation. Naraku let him go and the hanyuo's shoulders slumped and his head dropped. Shippo, who had now moved close enough to them so that Naraku could see his hazelnut eyes clearly. He seemed puzzled at InuYasha's uncharacteristic response.  
"Why don't you…court… Lyn, Shippo? Your both full demons and she…she needs a strong…demon…to be with…with her," InuYasha forced out and both Naraku and Shippo saw that he nearly died inside as he said it. The pain in his heart greatly outweighed the pain in his hands and his dug his claws into his palms, reopening the wounds there from his early showdown with Naraku. **  
**"No InuYasha, she belongs to you. We both know that," Shippo said. He rubbed the back his neck uncomfortably as InuYasha stared at him with the remnants of a shattered heart in his now dull, tawny eyes.

"***growl* **I'm such a damn mutt…" he murmured to himself. Shippo seemed to know regret his early entrance and walked up face-to-face with InuYasha.  
"Don't worry my boy, I've got what you need," Shippo said as he reached into his inner breast pocket and produced a white cloth that held a small, round object. He unwrapped the cloth and a small, pinkish purple pearl now sat in his open palm.  
"No way…" Naraku said in a very uncharacteristic way as his jaw dropped. InuYasha looked at Shippo, then at Naraku, and then at the pearl whose color seemed to swirl like a turbulent cloud trapped inside the pearl. The Shikon no Tama was more beautiful in person than in any story he had ever heard.  
"This should help your mutt problem, right?" Shippo said as he held the pearl between his pointer finger and thumb. The cloud inside the pearl swirled more violently and grew darker as Shippo held it and the light it gave off reflected off of InuYasha's face as he moved his head closer to the pearl. He could feel its power and all at once he wanted to take it and make a youkia of himself. Then he could be more powerful than anything ever before. Everything would be his, no matter what. He would be unstoppable. InuYasha backed away and shook his head, scrambling the erratic thoughts that were overpowering him. He breathed deeply and walked, cautiously, back to Naraku's side.  
"How does it work," InuYasha asked, knowing full well already how it worked. He also knew the power it had to turn even the most tranquil creature against itself and tear it apart, leaving only the most power hungry part of it left. He tore his eyes away from the pearl and looked at Shippo, awaiting an answer. Naraku was as still and quiet as stone, transfixed by the pearl. InuYasha saw how his red eyes seemed to be filled with a deep violet haze and so he stepped in front of the entranced demon. Naraku blinked rapidly and looked around, obviously confused. He looked up and at InuYasha and saw the answer in his eyes. Naraku bowed deeply to him, then to Shippo and walked towards the hut entrance, not looking over at the jewel as he left.

"Now, to answer your question. Just grab the pearl, hold it tight and let one side take over. The one you know she would love more,"Shippo said as his large hazelnut eyes narrowed at InuYasha in a queer anticipation. InuYasha starred at the jewel for a little while more before he abruptly took the pearl from the young fox demon's hand, hung his head, allowing a mass of white hair fall around him, and then headed towards the house where they would all be staying. The sounds of the after party filled the night, but the only sound InuYasha heard was Lyn's voice as it drifted from an open window and into the night. **  
**

* * *

"A demon huh? I would never have known," Kagome said as she hugged Lyn tight. Lyn hugged her friend back and half-smiled, half-frowned. Her mossy eyes were clouded by emotion and a lingering surprise mixed with a hint of confusion.**  
**"That would explain how you flung me across the forest the day we met," Matt said as he sipped his mocha cappuccino, thinking about the day he had nearly killed his best-friend and himself as well. He was glad he had matured and no longer rushed head first into unknown situations with equally unknown circumstances, some that had proven to be painful. **  
**"But doesn't that mean your mother is a demon too?" Miroku asked scratching his head in confusion. He had met and talked with her mother hundreds of times and never once got the impression from her aura that she was anything but human. Yes, her aura had been unlike anything he had ever experienced before; powerful yet calming with a deep hue of wisdom and ancient ways. He thought nothing odd of it because both Lyn and her younger brother shared the same odd aura, though Lyn's was the strongest and her brothers a bit more normal. Now that he had heard about her family's true lineage, the strange and ancient aura's now made sense. How had he not seen it before?**  
**"Yeah, I guess. But that's not important! I want to be normal, before I knew any of this; to be human again. InuYasha will never love me if I'm more powerful than him," Lyn said, obviously frustrated with the new and strange situation unraveling before her. When she had first met Naraku, she had been sure he was a puppet of Kratos because of their similar appearance and she had been prepared to kill him. But then he had bowed to her and told him that he was her uncle, and showed her a very old yellowing, black and white photo of him and her father. The resemblance was overwhelming and it brought back the familiar pain of loss. He had explained to her the origin of her powers, her true blood line as well as her true age; 200 years old. She had been shocked and didn't believe, but he had brought proof of her birth because her birth was a large event, but it had shadowed over a deeper and profound event. The day she was born was the day InuYasha's mother had been killed. Her birth was marked by this death. She had cried, but had come to terms with her new fate, though not fully. She was still young for her kind and she knew that her and InuYasha would live full and long lived together; if he would stay.

"Is he all you think about?" Sango asked as she shook her head. Lyn looked at her, her green eyes which were now veined with purple, looked sadly at her old friend. She knew Sango meant well, but she would never understand the love and deep bond she felt with her stubborn hanyuo. She smiled and looked out at the crescent moon shining in the dark sky. The sounds of celebration still echoed through the night, but all she heard was the sound of her own heart beating in rhythm with his. She knew he was outside, waiting to come in, she could sense him. There was a sadness in his aura and she knew that Naraku had told him. Her heart began to break before he even entered the room or uttered a hushed word.  
"I can't help it, I love him, even though he doesn't love me…" Lyn said as she broke her gaze with the moon. She took a deep breath in and tried to ignore the almost overwhelming power his aura had over her. She didn't show that she felt his sadness on top of her own and was close to being crushed beneath it.

"Its OK, you'll get over him soon," Miroku said as he tried to take a bite of Sango's mini hotdog, but was nearly bit himself. The small scene pushed a hint of laughter and old happiness into her load of guilt, grief, and melancholy. A small smile rested on her lips for a moment, then it was gone. Sango had spied it and knew that it was a start.  
"He was just a demon anyway," Kagome said shrugging, trying to sound as if she didn't care. The moment the sentence left her mouth though, she knew it had been a mistake as Lyn shot a menacing look in her direction. Kagome looked away quickly and Lyn's gaze softened. She took Kagome's hand in hers as a gesture of apology. Kagome smiled in relief and cupped Lyn's equally pallid hand in hers and nodded.  
"He isn't just a demon though, he's human too," Lyn said softly. Kagome squeezed her hand and Lyn gave a half-hearted smile before she stood and walked to the window in the bridal hut. The moon filled the window completely and when Lyn looked out she saw how it filled the darkened forest with light. The soft glow glittered on the dewy leaves and glittered like a million little earth bound stars. It filled her with a hope and at the thought a small tear slid down her smooth cheek. She did not wipe it away, fearing that the feeling of her breaking dam on her finger would cause the entire flood to come.  
"Which side did you like better?" Sango asked as she shoved another mini hotdog into her mouth. She was glad she was not in Lyn's position to choose, but she felt her friend's pain all the same. Her aura washed over all of them, forcing her pain onto all those with her. She probably didn't know, but it didn't bother anyone because they knew that if she had been able to keep it all inside, Lyn would have shut down long ago.  
"I didn't like any side better. I loved him all..._and always will,_" she said, whispering the last bit to the moon. As if it was responding to her, its glow washed over her, filling her with calming warmth. She closed her eyes and let it fill her with a peaceful and serine feeling. From a darkened corner of the room, InuYasha watched her close her eyes as the moon washed over her. His golden globes traced her every feature made more prominent and beautiful by the lunar light. He breathed in deeply, her Jasmine scent filling his nostrils. He loved her with every fiber of his being and he hated himself for being so weak; too weak for such a powerful and beautiful demon like Lyn. A pain filled him and he stood there, waiting.  
"Harsh. It's too bad he wouldn't except you for what you are…" Miroku said as he took a half eaten hotdog out of Sango's hand successfully this time. He smiled as she turned towards him, fake anger burning in her eyes. He quickly planted his lips on hers and when he pulled away, a soft blush powered her cheeks. He went to whisper to her, but a familiar aura hit him and he turned to greet the owner.

"But I would…" came InuYasha's voice from the darkened corner of the room, right by the door. They all turned to face him as he stepped from the shadows allowing the warm candle light to throw his shadow abstractly against the bamboo walls.  
"InuYasha. What are you doing here?" Lyn said as she turned from the window to face him. He hid his aura from her now, making it difficult to read him. She had known that he was outside, listening to them, but she had forgotten about his presence as she became entranced by the celestial bodies lambency.  
"I came here for you," he said softly as she came to him. She stood looking up into his sandy eyes. The flickering candle light filled his eyes with a strange glow as the fire flickered in them. He made to reach out to her, but hesitated and recoiled. He saw the hurt flash in her eyes and he immediately regretted his rash decision to reframe from her touch.  
"Me...? But I'm a demon. You can't love me or even want me," she said bitterly as she felt herself begin to cry. Her dam was breaking and she no longer had the strength to keep it from falling. Before a single tear fell though, he had grabbed her hands gently. She looked up at him questioningly and before she could slip the words from the tongue, she felt him slip her something. It was smooth, round, and warm in her hands. He let her go and stepped back. She raised her hands and opened them, washing her face in the soft pink glow of the jewel in her hands.

"What is this?" she said as she held the Shikon no Tama he had placed in her hand between her fingers. It was entrancing, but it didn't have the same overwhelming effect it had had on Naraku on her. To InuYasha, this proved that she was more powerful than anything he would ever again encounter and thus he was below her. She looked up at him and she saw that he was looking out toward the moon which was reflected in his saffron eyes. **  
**"It can make you human," he said, never taking his eyes off of the skies lamp. She saw that he wanted to and felt that he wanted nothing more than to embrace her and fill his lungs with her sweet scent. It made her hurt so much to see that pain she was putting him through. He sensed the change in her aura and broke his staring contest with the moon. He looked into her drowning green eyes and placed a hand on her cheek. She placed a lax hand over his and closed her eyes in momentary serenity. She opened her eyes again and looked at him with a new determination fueled by a new idea hatching in her head.  
"If this could make me human, couldn't it make you full demon?" she asked, closing her fingers around the jewel. Its heat pulsated against her skin, making her palm sweat.  
"Yes, but I know this is what you want; to be normal," he said as he grasped her hand that enclosed the jewel. He could feel its heat from between her fingers and he quickly let her go as he felt his youkia side begin to struggle against him. He breathed heavily as he fought to gain control. A hand on his shoulder brought him back together once more. He turned his back on her quickly though, and walked to the far window and gazed out into the moon swept landscape.  
"But, then I can't stay, there would be no point. I don't want to leave...it wasn't supposed to turn out this way," Lyn stammered. She was at a loss for words and actions. She was confused, hurt, angry, and frustrated at him for being to prideful and following the rules of the inu youkia. She stared into his eyes and she saw how fear and sadness were swimming in their golden oceans. She squeezed the small orb in her hand and walked up to the overly prideful hanyuo. She tried to look straight into his eyes, but he would not have it. He finally lowered his eyes and she gave up her futile attempt to meet her love's beautiful gaze.  
"But you must, it's the best for you. You don't belong here with us...with me," he said as he dropped his head and closed his eyes. He was barely able to speak now; the pain he felt within himself was more than anything he had ever experienced. Not even the death of his mother had caused him such pain. He could feel her gaze burning into him and he finally looked up and met her gaze. Her green eyes were more alive than he had ever seen before and he resisted the urge to place his lips on hers.  
"But..." she began, but he just placed a finger on her lips. Tears ran down her face as she hugged him tighter than she ever had. As she hugged him, she thought about how much it would hurt to leave him alone after all that had happened. She closed her eyes as she breathed in his warmth; she knew what she had to do.

She squeezed the small, pulsating gem in her hand and breathed a final wish. There was a flash of purple and as the light subsided, Lyn and InuYasha were no more. In Lyn's place stood a young girl with long jet black hair that hung down to below her waist. From that hair protruded two light black fox ears with purple tips that twitched ever so slightly as they adjusted to the new sounds of her surroundings. Her once smooth and gentle hands were now clawed and clutched the jacket of the man she was entwined with; she was almost a foot taller and her shadow danced widely across the faces of the bewildered spectators that sat in awestruck silence. In the place of InuYasha stood a tall, young demon whose suit clothes were now shorter and tighter, revealing a toner and leaner body. He had long, silky white hair (nothing like InuYasha's old matted mane) and the ears that once protruded from his mane were now gone. There was also now a long violet streak of hair that hung in his face that matched the purple of the young hanyuo girls' ears. On each of his cheeks, two long violet streaks ran horizontally across them and ended at the corners of his eyes. On his forehead, two violet crescent moons were positioned, almost interlocking. Also, upon his hands were the same stripes that ran across his cheeks and the new shortness of his suit showed that the stripes ran up his arms to at least past his elbows. He looked like a younger, tamer version of the late Sesshomaru. The two were still wrapped in each other's embrace and only Lyn knew what had just occurred. She squeezed the young demon that was embracing her tighter and buried her face deeper into his chest, revealing in the sound of his strong and steady heartbeat. She knew he would be upset, but until then, she would enjoy the calm serenity that lay within his embrace.**  
**

* * *

"Lyn, InuYasha?" Kagome finally called out meekly. The two figures opened their eyes and met each others gaze. InuYasha's now glowing red and blue pupiled eyes stared intoLyn's now golden green eyes and she felt him grip her arms tighter. She felt his claws dig into her now thin, yet muscular upper arms. She smiled guiltily up at him, and she saw that his eyes were full of question and suspicion, not the overwhelming anger she had originally suspected.  
"What did you do Lyn?" he asked, his voice now much deeper and more sensual than before. He noticed the change and it made him look deeper at her. She blushed and shied away from his gaze. She could still feel his gaze on her and saw his eyes gleam from the corner of her cast away eyes. She sighed and looked back at him.  
"I made you what you always wanted, and I made myself what I always wanted to be..." she said as she lowered her head. She knew he didn't want to become a youkia because he feared what he might do if he ever became one. All of the other times he had reluctantly turned, he had been dangerous, volatile and homicidal; but of course he didn't know that she knew of this because it ashamed him to think of himself as a monster. She also knew that he was wondering how he was so calm and in control of himself when before it had been almost impossible.

"As part of my wish, I made your youkia more human and tolerable; a pure blooded you. I guess I got my wish," she said softly enough so that only his overly sensitive hearing could pick it up. He sighed and shook his head, knowing full well that he could never be mad at her for what she had done. It was a selfless act which made his Lyn herself. He smiled and breathed in her scent which remained relatively the same with only a subtle difference; she smelled of rich Jasmine and of a light spring rain. He leaned forward and placed his face in her long, midnight silken hair and inhaled; his nose tickled by the twitch of her ear.  
"Cute ears," he whispered into one of them making her shiver. He felt the vibration of her body and he held her closer, pushing her slender, firm frame closer to him so that he could feel her every curve against him.**  
**"Thanks. Now you get to rub mine I guess," she said slyly. He just smirked and brushed a strand of hair off her still soft, milky white skin. She closed her eyes and pushed her face against his hand. He cupped his hand onto her cheek and ran it down the curve of her neck where he could feel her strong pulse. His fingers brushed against the barely visible puncture wounds his mark had left and at once he felt his beast purr in was distracted from his current train of thought as his hand was removed and held tightly by hers. Her claws brushed against his skin and it sent shivers of long lost lust through him. It had been many years since he had truly had her and now he wanted her more than ever.  
"I love your hair. No more tangled mane," she said as she ran her fingers through its silky white strands. He watched her intently as she ran her fingers admiringly through his long hair, reveling in the softness of it. She stopped at the purple strand and a playful smile lit up her beautiful face. **  
**"Very nice..." she said. He smiled and they both shared a small laugh before Matt snapped them back to the reality outside of themselves.**  
**"Yo, earth to you two...!" Matt called, his voice a bit unsure. InuYasha sharply turned his head and looked dead at the thief, making Matt jump back. The young youkia smiled and Lyn giggled at how baffled the thief looked.  
"Hey Matt, don't you love my new look!" Lyn said, letting go of InuYasha's hands. Shespun around gracefully, her kimono spinning around her, casting wild shadows on the flame lit walls. She stopped spinning, grabbed the edges of her kimono, hiked it up just a bit, and bowed; her long hair fell around her head and covered her ears. Sango continued to stare in disbelief even as Kagome clapped in glee. It seemed as if nothing could shock, startle or bother that girl.  
"Lyn? What happened to you two?" Sango said as she gazed at Lyn's ears absent mindedly. Lyn just giggled and grabbed Sango's hand, scratching her hand with her claws as she grabbed it a bit too roughly. Lyn blushed and immediately let go, looking down at her feet as to avoid eye contact with Sango. Sango looked at the long, red marks on the tops of her hands and couldn't help but start to laugh. It was a laugh of relief and nothing else. Lyn looked up, a blush still tainting her cheeks, and also laughed. The two "sisters" laughed with each other until tears blurred their vision and their sides threatened to burst.  
"Sorry, I've got to get used to these," Lyn said, wiping away a tear that had leaked from the corner of her eye. She shook her head and held out her long, slender fingers and admired the sharp tipped edges of her claws. Sango did as well, daring to touch the pad of one of her fingers to the tip of one of Lyn's claws.  
"Well, know that that's over, how bout you tell us what the hell just happened?" Miroku said, and everyone nodded in eager agreement.

* * *

"Wow, I didn't even know that the jewel could do that..." Florina said as she closed her silver eyes and sighed in disbelief. She had walked in only moments after Sango and Lyn had their little "episode" and had frozen in the doorway. Her eyes grew large at the sight of them, and even at one point, refused to believe they were truly Lyn and InuYasha. She had finally come through and now was as awestruck as everyone else.  
"So your saying is that all you did...was wish?" Matt said, as he scrunched up his face in a confused expression. Kagome sat behind him and started running her slender fingers through his thick brown hair and the confused expressions passed into one of bliss. Lyn smiled inward and knew he would be asking no more questions. Kagome's touch was like an instant drug to him and it made her heart swell to see her old friend so happy.  
"Yeah, it gave him what he always wanted and did the same for me as well," Lyn said, answering Matt's question even though she knew he was hearing her, but it was more of an automatic hearing than a voluntary type. What she said would pass right through his brain and out the other ear. She imagined her words flossing their way through one ear and squeezing out the other before floating away into the night through the rooms open door. She suppressed a giggle and smiled widely instead.

"But I thought you_** DIDN'T**_want to be a demon?" Miroku said sporting the same expression Matt had been sporting before Kagome's fingers began to intertwine themselves in his thick, soft locks. Lyn's smile widened and extended to her eyes which now seemed to be shinning with specks of silver that swam in her golden green eyes.  
"A hanyuo isn't a demon is it? Besides their a lot cooler," she confessed, looking down at her feet as she did. She could feel everyone's gaze settling on her, but she didn't want to look up for she felt a bit embarrassed at confessing her little secret. She had always been fascinated with InuYasha's kind, and although she didn't want to be a full demon, she knew that in order to be with him, a compromise of sorts would have to be reached. So she settled for the one that she decided would be more tolerable; besides, being a hanyuo had its perks.  
"I thought it was like a sin or something for a demon and a hanyuo to hook up?" Kagome asked as she massaged Matt's head. His eyes had rolled up into the back of his head and it looked as though he was in heaven. His honey moon had started early it seemed.  
"So? I'm not as vain as InuYasha here..." Lyn said as she elbowed the demon in the side. He grunted in mild surprise and then turned back towards the group. He actually enjoyed the looks of awe and keen study that everyone was giving him; for once the attention wasn't bad and he could get used to it. The only one who was looking at him with the familiar looks of suspicion and reproach was Kaede, but he didn't blame her considering his family history.  
"***grumble* **I'm not vain!" InuYasha finally protested as he crossed his arms across his tone, broad chest. He marveled in the way his new muscles felt and the way his chest was wider and fuller; not that it wasn't before, it was just better now.  
"Are too! You're being vain right now!" Lyn said, pointing out the obvious fact that he once again staring into a nearby mirror. He glared at her through his reflection and he saw her stick her tongue out at him. All at once he longed for that tongue to be tangled with his and to have her lips kissing his chest and beyond. He snorted softly and shook the images out of his head causing his long white hair to fall around his shoulder and frame the strong features of his face; he successfully passed it off as an act of vanity.  
"I'm just getting used to my new look," he said as he brushed a wayward strand of white hair off his face.  
"Uh-huh..." Lyn said as she rolled her brilliant, multicolored eyes.  
"Shut up..." he replied, agitation edging the tips of his voice. Lyn narrowed her eyes in warning and InuYasha just rolled his and avoided her glare.  
"Jeesh, so pushy," she finally said when she was satisfied that he was not going to say anything with any hint of agitation or any unhappy tone again. He sighed and got up effortlessly; he was still amazed at how well his new body worked and how easy things were coming to him know. Although a hint of humans till resided in his heart, he ignored it in favor of his demonic part and savored the feelings of power that now flowed through his veins. He briefly thought that if Sesshomaru was still alive that he would be superior to him even though he had managed to overtake him in his hanyuo form, but not without serious damage.

"I'm not pushy, now lets get going," he said as he turned towards her and offered her a strong, slender hand. She looked up at him and crossed her arms. He sighed but kept his hand out anyway knowing she would eventually take it because he knew that she was brimming with excitement, though she was hiding it extremely well.  
"See what I mean?" Lyn said crossing her arms with an _**I told you so**_ look on her face. His jaw began to flex, showing his growing agitation and Lyn giggled. She finally uncrossed her arms and had barely put her hand in his when he lifted her off the couch with major ease. She glided up and came to rest against his chest. She looked up into his eyes and saw the growing frustration in them dissipate immediately. But she also felt something else begin to grow and she pushed her self closer to him so that he could feel her every curve. She heard a deep rumble in his chest and she allowed soft growl to escape her own throat in response.

"Where are you going Lyn dear? You've only been here for less than a year," Kaede asked as she eyed InuYasha cautiously. She didn't completely trust the demon InuYasha yet and she could sense that he knew it even though he made no attempt to acknowledge it.  
"Home," she said dreamily as she backed away from InuYasha and then took off up the stairs that lead to her room. Sango and Kagome followed, leaving behind a solemn demon, suspicious priestess, hungry monk, and extremely disappointed and bewildered thief.**  
**

* * *

"Which hat should I wear Sango?" Lyn asked, excitement peaking in her voice. Sango sat on the edge of the bed and was trying not to doze off as her head continually drooped down to her chest and then snapped back up, cracking every once and awhile. She yawned and stretched, smacking and licking her lips sloppily as she did. Her eyes were bloodshot and she looked as though she had been awake for 36 hours straight; which she almost had been helping Lyn and Miroku pack as well as other things that needed to be taken care of before they left. Lyn was in the process of trying to find a good hat to wear and had narrowed it down to two choices: a black 'conductors' hat with metallic gold dots adorning the base of the hat and a red bandana with white ameba like designs on it.**  
**"Just go with that nice black one Lyn. It goes with your bikini top," she said in a lazy, exhausted voice. Lyn looked over at her friend and knew that the only thing Sango really cared about was finding a nice warm bed to curl up in, preferably next to Miroku. Her sense of style hadn't suffered any though Lyn thought as she tossed aside the red bandana and began to tie her hair into a tight ponytail. It was a bit difficult because she never really wore her hair up and when she did, her hair had never been so long and, well, slippery almost. The silky softness of it made it hard to get a good, solid grip on it and make a tight ponytail. She finally succeeded and clapped her hands in excitement. The sudden noise jolted Sango out her daze and she jumped to her feet. She looked around the room, dazed and then looked at the laughing hanyuo who stood beside her. Lyn hugged her friend as she picked up her suitcase and walked towards the door.  
"OK, let's get going!" Lyn said excitedly as she ran out the door, nearly trampling Miroku in the process. He hit the wall and made himself as flat as he could when he saw the black and milky white blur that was coming at him at full speed. He felt a whoosh of air hit him in the face as she disappeared down the stairs. He leaned over and took in a huge breath of air for he had had the breath stole from him as Lyn tore by him.**  
**

"Sorry Miroku!" sounded a voice from downstairs. He looked over at the foot of the stairs and shook his head, erecting himself as he did. He looked over at Lyn's room and saw Sango standing there, leaning against the doorframe with a grin on her tired face.  
"She nearly killed me," he said as Sango walked over to him, planting a soft kiss on his warm and wet lips. She pulled away and looked into his deep, dark brown eyes and sighed. She laid her head against his chest and listened to the steady beating of his heart. It soothed her and she felt herself begin to drift off; Miroku felt the change in her breathing and the way she was leaning heavier against him and in one sweeping motion, lifted her off her feet and held her bridal style.  
"Don't be such a baby. She's just a little nervous, that's all," Sango said as she began to drift off to sleep again. He looked down at her and realized how beautiful and peaceful she looked when she was at rest. He leaned his head down and kissed her warm forehead. She snuggled up against him and he shifted her in her arms to evenly distribute her light weight and began to walk down the stairs to the outside. He carried her outside and felt a warm spring breeze brush against his face and tousle his thick head of hair. He smiled and walked over to the well. He saw Lyn standing there and she waved to him. He nodded his head in acknowledgement. **  
**"You should be more careful when you're taking off down such a narrow pathway you know," Miroku said as he came up next to Lyn. She smiled and rolled her eyes at him as she continued to throw suitcases down the well.  
"Yeah, so she doesn't trample someone as important as _**you**_, right Miroku?" InuYasha's voice laughed from behind him. He nearly jumped in surprise and monetary fear, but stopped himself last minute as to not wake the deeply sleeping Sango in his arms. **  
**"Damn! You scared me InuYasha! Try to be _**louder **_next time!" Miroku hissed as he took in a deep lung full of air, held it in, and then let in go in a large _**WHOOSH**_ of air. He shook his head and walked behind the new demon.  
"Sorry, but I don't do it on purpose. At least not all the time..." InuYasha said as he walked up to Kagome, gave her a long kiss and threw the last of the suitcases down the well as if he was throwing a candy wrapper into a waste basket. Miroku stopped a few feet behind the couple and gently blew into Sango's face. Instead of the fluttering of eyelashes and sleepy groan he expected, he instead got a fist to the face. The next thing he knew he was looking up into the faces of Lyn, InuYasha, and Sango. Both hanyuo and demon looked as though they were trying to suppress a heavy bought of laughter while Sango looked extremely guilty. Her mouth was turned down and her eyes were wet, like she was going to cry."What the holy hell happened?" he said as he slowly tried to sit up and that's when the pain in his jaw hit him full force and he cringed; he collapsed back down and moaned. He looked up at InuYasha and Lyn as they burst out laughing; tears poured out of their multi-colored eyes and as Lyn struggled for breath, she pointed a long, sharp tipped finger at Sango. The slayer rubbed the back of her neck nervously and shrugged.

"Son of a bitch!" he said as he started to rub the large spot on his chin that was throbbing. It felt as if his jaw was dislocated and speaking hurt. He could imagine the large purple spot that would soon manifest itself on his face. The thought such an ugly mark marring his beautiful face made the pain even worse. He shot Sango a murderous glance and he immediately regretted it. Tears poked out of the corners of her eyes and she went from looking sorry to a mix of sorry and angry. She crossed her arms across her chest and turned her head from him. He sighed, dropped his hands, lifted his head and dropped it heavily against the earth. He saw a blast of white in front of his eyes and then it subsided as well as the pain in his jaw. The throbbing in his head and the throbbing in his jaw seemed to have cancelled each other out; now it was just tiredness. He sat up, rubbed the back of his head and wrapped his arms around the woman who had cold cocked him. She did not stiffen in his arms, but instead turned towards him and placed a quick, light kiss on his sore jaw that only lightly brushed the skin.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to punch you, but when you blew on me my first reaction was to…attack?" she said, half smiling. He rolled his eyes and kissed her soft, moist lips. He pulled away gently and rested his forehead against hers and looked into he moist, hazel eyes.

"Careful now monk, she's dangerous," InuYasha called as he swung his legs over the dark opening of the well of ages. Lyn stood behind him and her face was still pink from her previous laughing fit. A few giggles escaped her, but she stopped them as a look of pain swept over her face. She held her sides and breathed as deep as her sore ribs would allow her. The monk turned his eyes from them and back to Sango who was helping him to his feet.

"Neh, neh, neh..." Miroku said as he mocked InuYasha. Sango giggled and ran her fingers through his hair, brushing bits of leaves and grass from it.  
"I heard that monk!" InuYasha said as he slipped into the well with Lyn close behind. Miroku looked at Sango and she just shrugged as she too swung her legs over the well opening and plunged in. He watched as the darkness swallowed her, but it was not all dark as a nearly blinding whitish blue light overpowered the black and his slayer disappeared within it. He shook his head as he too swung his legs over the lip of the well.

"Bombs away," he said to the empty forest as he too slipped into the darkness and into another world.


	11. A Scarlet Reunion

**_Author's Note: I'm soooo on a roll tonight. Here's chapter 11. Savor this because I'm not sure when chapter 12 will be up. So I am now off to take a well deserved and needed shower! ENJOY YO!_**

* * *

**Ch. 11**

**Scarlet Reunion  
**

"I miss Lyn mom," said a young boy with eyes the color of dark oceans that swam with unfallen tears and rays of broken sunlight. His thick, short black hair tousled around his head as a strong breeze blew threw the trees. Pink cherry petals danced in the breeze, but no one saw their ballet and they fell silent once against the unseen weight that drifted throughout the large courtyard.  
"I know Sota, but I'm sure wherever she is, she's happy," replied a tall woman that bore a striking resemblance to Lyn. Her porcelain skin seemed to reflect the dying sunlight of the afternoon and her forest green eyes held the same heavy sadness that the young boy's eyes also held. Her waist length, midnight black hair was tied back into a tight ponytail and it reflected every bit of light, making it seem as if she had millions of little stars pinned into her flowing mane.  
"Is sissy dead momma?" Sota said, his voice and words betraying his true age of 13. He now looked like a sad, lost little boy in the middle of a dark, menacing world. His mother looked upon him with more pain in her heart than her eyes showed.**  
**"I hope not son, but if she is, may her soul rest in peace,"his mother said as she fell to her knees in front of him, clear tears of pure grief falling from her crystalline, jade eyes. The boy threw his long, toned arms around his weeping mothers' neck and the two wept together. They wept for all that was, for all that is, and for that could have been. A scene of overwhelming loss and sadness had taken over the lives of Lyn's mother and younger brother for the last year and half, ever since she had left for InuYasha's world the last time. She had said nothing about her plans and instead had just vanished, leaving her bewildered family behind. **  
**"Tomorrow would be her 19th birthday," Sota said as he helped his mother to her feet. As she patted her drying tears she marveled at how much her son had grown in the last year and how Lyn would have been so proud of her little brother. Fresh tears blurred her vision, but she brushed them away with her red kerchief. Sota watched his mother clear away her tears and a small smile drew across his lips. He knew that she hurt more than she would ever let him see, and he was proud of how well she had kept herself together for his sake. He turned towards the old well that had been hidden away in his father's old tool shed. After Lyn's initial disappearance, Sota had found a small flower his sister had been wearing in her hair the day she had vanished by the stairs leading down to the old well. Part of him still thought had swallowed her like it had so many youkia in the old stories. He had grown out of that idea now, but as he looked at it now, he thought he felt it calling to him. He began to walk towards it when a strong breeze hit him in the face. He breathed in and swallowed the scent of Jasmine; the way his sister used to smell after a quick shower and a kiss goodbye. He clenched his jaw and walked towards the large tree that shaded the well. He would meditate there for awhile. Perhaps the spirits of his ancestors would guide him.

"Sota dear, I don't want you to be out to late, come back before sunset," his mother called to him, her voice filled with worry. She had already lost one child and she had become extremely protective of the one she had left. He turned back towards her and flashed a charmingly handsome smile.  
"Yes mom," he said as he blew her a kiss and finished the short walk from the back steps to the base of the large tree. He sat beneath its large branches and closed his eyes, his breath slowing until he had fallen into a soft slumber in the shade of the ancient tree.**  
**

* * *

"I miss you Lyn. Why'd you have to go and leave, why'd you have to go and die?" Sota murmured as his dreams began to turn dark as they so often did now. He opened his tired and heavy eyes, squinting against the sun that was now burning in his face. He grumbled and scooted to the other side of the tree to escape the suns glare. He stretched and began to rise, but stopped as a strong wind pushed him against the tree with tremendous force. As he waited to be released, he saw that the branches of the great tree were straining against whatever was pulling the air in around him. The suction finally stopped and Sota stumbled forward before he fell to his knees. He was about to get back to his feet when he heard a loud thud from somewhere behind him. He froze and listened, his heart seeming to wait to beat until he knew that the beats would not be heard.

"InuYasha, get off, you weigh a ton!" a soft female voice cried out. A small snicker was also heard and it was followed by an unearthly low growl. Sota's blood ran cold as the growl reverberated in his bones and made his teeth rattle. **  
**"Jeesh, you're such a baby," a young male voice said teasingly before Sota heard him also cry out as something fell on him. A loud burst of feminine laughter and curses followed one another as Sota found the strength and will to finally stand. He pushed himself as flat as possible against the tree and waited; his ears straining to hear any and everything.**  
**"God damn_** taijiya**_," the young male voice said lowly. The low tone in his voice seemed dangerous, but a slight bit of sarcasm played below the anger in it. Sota gathered the courage to look around the thick trunk of the tree and what he saw shocked him; there was no one there. The voices seemed to be coming from thin air, carried on the wind from somewhere beyond Sota's sense of time. Perhaps it was the ancients trying to send him a message or maybe he was still dreaming. He dug his fingers into the bark of the tree and listened, the sound of his galloping heart nearly drowning out every other sound.  
"Sorry InuYasha," a female voice said, laughter filling her voice with youth and good nature. He heard the first female break out into another bought of laughter, although it was quieter and less boisterous.

"Hahaha, now stop laughing," InuYasha said, his voice now more annoyed than angry. The girls' laughter was abruptly cut off by another huge gasp of wind that nearly knocked Sota onto his face if he hadn't been clutching the tree as tight as he was. This is when Sota noticed that the wind was being sucked into the well. He mentally patted himself on the back while simultaneously trying to stop himself from wetting his pants; he had always known that the old Bone Eaters well had had something to do with his sisters' disappearance. A loud _**THUD**_ caused Sota to dart behind the tree again, his heart beating so hard he was afraid that it would explode from his chest and take off running as he wanted to do now.  
"Oh, payback is so sweet, wouldn't you agree?" said another male voice. His boisterous tone and airy, but serious sentiment sounded all too familiar to Sota, but he just couldn't place where he had heard that voice before.

"Shut up and get off of me Miroku. You're so damn heavy for being so damn scrawny," the original female voice said. Her voice sounded winded and a bit annoyed and this is when his heart finally stopped pounding against his rib cage and stopped all together. That voice and that name; know he knew why he had known it so well. It just couldn't be though, it just couldn't. **  
**"Miroku? But he went miss…missing with Sango an…and Ly…Lyn," Sota thought to himself. His thoughts stammered in sync with his erratic breathing and palpating heartbeat. Sweat was pouring off of him in streams and his knees felt like they had been replaced by string cheese as they shook and wobbled beneath him. He propped himself against the tree and steadied himself before he turned his head and peaked out from behind the tree once more. He soon both regretted it and thanked the gods for giving him the strength to even turn his head. **  
**"Ladies first Miroku," InuYasha said, a smirk playing in his voice. Sota could imagine the monk – if it was really him – rolling his hazel eyes.  
"Funny demon boy," Miroku replied mockingly. Sota had but a few seconds to dwell on what Miroku had just said before a large mass of person came flying out of the well mouth. With a loud and crack that made even Sota cringe, the mass hit the ground and moaned loudly. It rolled over from its landing spot its face to its back. That's when Sota saw that is was a young man. Tousled brown hair, tall frame and as the man lifted one of his hands to his face and Sota gasped; upon his hand was a blue cloth hand wrap that was entwined with golden beads. The little contraption ended high in his wrist and tears stood out in Sota's eyes; not tears of sadness, but tears of joy. It was Miroku and if Miroku was here then perhaps Lyn was too.**  
**

"Ow. Oh come on, not my nose again," Miroku whined as he slowly sat up, propped his self up onto one of his elbows while he massaged the bridge of his slightly bleeding nose.  
"Watch out!" came the most familiar female voice. As soon as he heard her voice, Miroku scrambled to his feet and was just in time to catch her as she came up and over the lip of the well. She landed in his arms and immediately threw her arms around his neck to keep from being dropped. She didn't really need to worry about that though because the monk had a solid grip on her, so much so that his biceps bulged and his fingertips were turning white as he held her tight against his body. She looked up at him and Sota saw the monk blush lightly as the young girl smiled up at him. **  
**"Nice catch monk," she said as he placed her nimbly on her feet. She brushed herself off and then threw her arms around his neck. Miroku looked into her eyes and kissed her lips gently. It was the young girls turn to blush and when he saw this he ran his fingers through her long black hair and gave her a small kiss on the smooth skin of her forehead.  
"Thanks Sango dear," he said as he kissed her one more time. Sango smiled as she turned around, put her pointer finger and thumb in her mouth and whistled. The sound was high pitched and made Sota's ears ring, but he didn't notice. His mouth hung open slightly as he stared in utter disbelief at the two people that had gone missing with his sister. It was almost too good to be true; she had to be back, she just had too.  
"OK then, here I come!" came the other female voice, and before Sota's unbelieving eyes, a young girl with long raven black hair topped with a black hat came out of the well. She landed on her feet in a crouching position; one of her hands which seemed to be sharply tipped and curved was planted on the ground while the other was up and behind her, the fingers pointed out towards the setting sun. Her head was down and when she looked up, Sota saw that her eyes were pure gold with jade pupils and flecks sprinkled in the gold. She was wearing a black bikini top and blue jean shorts with black flip-flops and as she stood up, her flat, toned abdomen and smooth, pale skin of the exposed skin of her nice sized breasts. Sota thought she was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen.

"Oh InuYasha!" the young girl cooed. Sango snickered and Miroku just shook his head and crossed his arms. All eyes were on the well and one by one suitcases and duffel bags came out of the well and were gracefully caught by the young girl in the black hat. Her speed was inhuman and yet her movements were fluid and graceful, like an otherworldly ballerina. Sota just stared as she placed each suitcase at her feet and crossed her arms, apparently waiting for something else. In the blink of an eye, a young man with flowing white hair stood on the ledge of the well opening. The burnt orange and blood red colors of the setting sun burned his powerful image into the sky. He was tall and as he turned his head to slowly survey his surroundings, Sota saw that he adorned identical violet stripes that ran across each cheek and upon his forehead were two violet crescent moons that seemed to be almost interlocked. Sota's eyes widened and he gasped out loud. He immediately clasped a hand tightly over his mouth as the man's brilliantly colored, scarlet and cobalt eyes narrowed in his direction.  
"Did you hear that Lyn?" InuYasha said, never turning his head from Sota's direction. The young boy could feel the man's pulsating and overwhelming aura hit him like a wall of pure power. He gripped the tree and closed his eyes, trying to calm himself; he couldn't make another sound because he knew for sure that the man would hear.  
"No, now calm down InuYasha. No ones gonna hurt us here," the beautiful creature Sota had ever seen, whose name had become to be known as Lyn, said as she walked up to InuYasha and looked up at him. He was surely the most beautiful creature alive and Lyn felt her heart swell with love and pride; he was all hers and would always be.

"How could he possible hear me?" Sota thought, forgetting for now that InuYasha had called the young girl Lyn. He was perplexed at how he could have possibly have heard such a small, minute sound that not even Sota had registered. There was something not right about this and curiosity overpowered his common sense as he got down onto his hands and knees and crawled into the deep shade of the tree so that he could get a more panoramic view of what was happening before him. He stopped abruptly as his brain finally finished processing all of the information his poor eyes had just taken in.  
"Did Miroku call him that InuYasha guy **_demon boy?_** And did InuYasha call her Lyn…it couldn't be," Sota thought rapidly as his body finished its short journey to the deep shade. He laid on his belly and watched quietly and motionless, waiting for some sort of answer to what he still didn't really believe.**  
**

* * *

"My heads hot," Lyn whined as she wiped away the sweat that was dripping from her covered brow. Sota couldn't really see her face, but her eyes stood out against the dying light of the day. He was transfixed by her unnatural beauty and stared at her more than he paid attention to anything else. He watched as the sweat on her body sparkled in the sun and how her muscles flexed whenever she moved to wipe it from herself. He was falling steadily in love with this mystery girl paying to mind that she shared the same name as his deceased sister. His prepubescent body trembled with desire and he had to wipe his own sweat from his forehead because of it.  
"Then take off your hat, dork," Sango said, rolling her dark eyes. Sota looked at her momentarily, registering that this was indeed the Sango who had befriended her sister and had thusly disappeared with her. **  
**"No, _**my ears**_..." Lyn said, nearly hissing the last part. Sango once again rolled her eyes and crossed her arms in a gesture of annoyed surrender. Lyn just sneered as she turned from her friend and bent over slightly to go through her suitcase. Sango used this opportunity to snatch the hat off of Lyn's head. Tumbles of ebony hair fell around Lyn's shoulders as the girl snapped her head up and shot an angry glare at Sango. The purple tipped fox ears that sat atop the tendrils of midnight silk twitched every so slightly as they focused in on every sound that filled them, including Sota's voice. "She's a hanyuo!" Sota said loudly instead of thinking it, and before he could get up and run to the house, he felt a shadow fall across him. The dominant aura of the white haired InuYasha surrounded him and Sota nearly fainted in pure horror.

"What do we have here?" InuYasha said as he bent down and picked up the petrified Sota by the collar. The boy went along without a fight and hung limply in InuYasha's grasp. Up close the man was even more beautiful and mysterious than Sota could have ever imagined. He could also tell that like the girl Lyn, InuYasha wasn't human; he wasn't a mere hanyuo though, he was a full blooded youkia.  
"No wonder he could hear me," Sota thought to himself as InuYasha emerged from behind the tree with him in hand. The demon held him up like a trophy and smiled vigilantly. Sota turned only his eyes and saw two very sharp and white canine's that resided behind InuYasha grin. That's when Sota came to the conclusion that he was going to die.  
"Look what I found you guys," InuYasha said as he held Sota up higher, choking the boy by pulling his collar up tighter against his neck. Sota sputtered, but InuYasha ignored this and instead shook him a little, allowing for a small breather as his neck shifted in the collar.  
"Oh no, Sota! Put him down InuYasha!" Lyn yelled as soon as she saw him in InuYasha's powerful grip. The demon faltered a bit as he lowered Sota a few feet until his toes were scraping the grass, but then InuYasha changed his mind and lifted him again.  
"But...no!" InuYasha said as he once again shook Sota. Lyn's eyes began bleeding red with anger and she snarled lowly, a ferocious smile playing on her thin, pink lips. InuYasha saw that smile and at once grabbed the beaded necklace that lay just underneath his slightly unbuttoned white shirt. His face went as white as his hair as he went to put Sota down; it was too late.  
"_**Sit boy**_!" Lyn snarled and before he knew it, Sota was face first in the grass, lying in a deep, body shaped impression in the ground. He sat up and looked at the motionless demon next to him and at once felt like laughing. Whether it was out of pure fright or perhaps because seeing such a powerful and forceful being laying face down in the dirt after being made to _**SIT**_, Sota had to hold back the immense feeling to burst out into a maniacal bought of laughter.**  
**

"Come over here Sota dear!" Lyn said as Sota got to his feet, still looking at the InuYasha who had begun to stir. Sota's feet betrayed him as he walked towards the hanyuo girl who had tears standing in her brilliant eyes. Sango put an arm around Lyn's shoulders and the girl looked up at her as Sango shook her head and pointed at the obviously petrified Sota.  
"He doesn't recognize you Lyn," Miroku whispered to Lyn as Sota reached her. She grabbed his hands in hers and Sota could feel her claws brush against his skin and he jerked a little but actually regretted it as soon as he saw the hurt in her eyes. She let go of his hands and stood up, looking over at both Sango and Miroku.  
"But he recognizes you two," she said, a small sad smile forming on her lips.  
"Good idea," Sango said as she grabbed the monks arm and dragged him toward the scared little boy who still stood in front of Lyn, looking up at the girl who was once his older sister. When he saw Miroku and Sango walking towards him, he turned his head only slightly towards them, not wanting to take his eyes off the frightening yet beautiful creature before him.

"Sota! It's us, Sango and Miroku!" Sango said as she fell to one knee in front of the boy. Sota finally peeled his eyes off the girl in front of him, and when he did, Lyn slipped away into the shade of the God Tree. She knelt down by InuYasha's side and began to help him to his feet.

"Sango, Miroku!" Sota said, not truly believing that they were really here. They had all disappeared so long ago and now they were back. It was almost too good to be true; he finally broke free of his thoughts and threw his arms around Sango's neck the way he used to when he was younger. She squeezed him and heard him grunt a bit as she did and so she relaxed her grip. He let go of her and turned his gaze on Miroku whose eyes were misty with emotion.

"Yeah, it's us little man," Miroku said as he ruffled the boys hair as he fought the tears that sat on the edge of his eyes. He blinked them away and looked towards Sango and he saw the love that she held for the boy in front of them, but also the love and admiration that shone in her eyes only for him. He leaned over and placed a kiss on her cheek, causing both her and Sota to blush.

"Umm, you guys..." Sota said as he tried to break the silence of the awkward moment that had just played out. Sango's blush deepened as she looked back at Sota and he smiled, playing off the tender moment that had just transpired between the three of them. Miroku smiled lightly, drawing in Sango's features and the way her blush lit up her delicate, yet battle ready features. He reluctantly turned his head from her and directed his gaze on Sota.

"Yeah Sota?" he asked as Sango fought off her deep blush. She followed his gaze and saw that it rested on Lyn and InuYasha and she at once was a bit weary of what she knew he was going to ask.

"Who are they?" he said and Sango sighed and looked over at Miroku. He just frowned a bit and shrugged for he knew that they could not keep the truth from him forever.

"Well, the one with the long white hair is InuYasha. He was the most powerful being in feudal Japan. Although he was a half-demon, many did not dare to test his power," Sango said. Even though her words were a bit plumped, she spoke the truth.

"I know InuYasha. My teachers read us stories about him and how he saved Japan from a dark evil that threatened to devour it. If my guessing is right, he's the same InuYasha that hung around here with you guys and Lyn; But how can he be the same one form the stories too?" Sota said, puzzled at the odd and impossible time lapse.

"Well, time works differently on the different sides of the well," Miroku said as he nodded in the direction of the dried Bone Eater's Well. Sota nodded and it was clear that he wanted them to continue.

"On your side of the well, time runs as you would say, normally. On our side of the well, time runs faster. One year here is 150 on the other side," Sango explained. Sota heard them say "our side" but he didn't think it the right time to dive any deeper into that subject.

"So, he would go back to the well and thus back in time enabling him to both InuYasha the feared hanyuo and InuYasha, Lyn's friend?" Sota asked, already knowing the answer. Both the slayer and the monk nodded and Sota nodded absent minded in return. He squinted though as another question came to him.

"Ok, so the stories said that he was a hanyuo, but he doesn't look like a hanyuo now. He looks like a full-blooded youkia. Now, the girl is obviously a hanyuo, so unless he underwent a sex change, something or someone changed him," Sota said and by the looks on both Sango and Miroku's faces, they knew the answer. He crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes down at them. They exchanged nervous glances and then Miroku cleared his throat nervously before looking directly at Sota.

"He was changed by the power of the Shikon No Tama by a woman who loved him more than life. She made a wish on the jewel and sacrificed her humanity so that they could be together for eternity," Miroku said, satisfied with his answer. Sota on the other hand, was not.

"By whom?" Sota pried, wanting to know who this mysterious, beautiful hanyuo was. Sango shook her head and looked at him sympathetically.

"By your sister," Sango said her voice low and calm. She immediately saw the change in his eyes as he absorbed what she had just relented to him. Miroku caught him as he made a break for the spot Lyn had just been and turned him around to face Sango who was know kneeling in front of him.

"L...Lyn? But how? Where is she? Is she _**OK**_? Tell me you guys!" Sota said, his voice dripping with anxiety. Although Sango and Miroku had told him that Lyn was now the hanyuo, his brain had bypassed that information and had focused in on the fact that she was alive.

"She's OK little man so calm down, yeah?" Miroku said as he looked up and towards where InuYasha and Lyn were and quickly looked away; a blush the color of Naraku's eyes was painting his cheeks as Sango looked at him queerly.

"What's...ooh," Sango said as she too looked up and just as quickly looked away. Sota was now beyond confused and took the blushing on the cheeks as a sign to investigate for himself.

"What?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at the blushing duo. His curiosity was at its peak and he felt like he would explode if all of his questions weren't answered. Giving in to stubborn curiosity instead of common sense, Sota whipped his head to look over his shoulder and what he saw both disgusted and filled him with a sense of anger and jealousy. That mainly came from the part of his mind that now worshiped the young woman with the twitching black ears and the perfectly sculpted body of a goddess. Calming his anger, he turned back towards Sango and Miroku, folding his arms and looking away from the two slightly. He knew they would see the jealousy in his eyes, and he did not want them to know how he felt about their fellow female companion, not until he knew more about her. **  
**"Ew, Lyn would never do something like that. Especially with someone as mean as him. I wonder what a beautiful creature like her would see in someone like him," a high blush powdered his cheeks as he realized he had said the last part out loud. Clearing his throat loudly, he turned his gaze back on his two friends and saw them looking apprehensively at one another. Looking back up the young boy in front of them, they quickly addressed his question and to Sota's overwhelming relief, either did not hear what he called her or just didn't acknowledge it. Either way was fine with him.

"Yeah, believe me, we wonder the same thing every time he screws up, which is often," Miroku said rolling his brunette eyes. Sota eyed him oddly as he wondered how long they had known the inhuman duo for. It surprised him even more that he did not find it odd that Sango and Miroku knew demons and demoness, but his train of thought was interrupted as Sango placed a heavy hand on his shoulder. He turned his attention towards her and saw an anxious nervousness in them that was so unlike the Sango he knew that it frightened him a bit.

"About your sister Sota. Ummm that _beautiful creature_ you mentioned earlier, that would be Lyn," Sango said, trying hard not to blush or look away from the boy she had a tight grip on. As the words escaped her lips, Sota simultaneously blushed redder than InuYasha fire-rat kimono and grew paler than the full moon at it brightest. Sango gave his shoulder one more good squeeze before she let him go and watched him slump over with his head held low; his entire frame trembled as he sought to sort out the millions of thoughts racing through his mind at one time. He felt both disgusted with his self for wanting his sister, but at the same time he was trying to figure out how it could possibly be Lyn. When she left she was her normal, or as normal as she could be, human self. As he thought harder about it though, he remembered what the monk had said about InuYasha.

"He was changed by the power of the Shikon No Tama by a woman who loved him more than life. She made a wish on the jewel and sacrificed her humanity so that they could be together for eternity," Miroku's voice said in his head, scattering all other thoughts that clouded his mind. She had given up her humanity; she had turned herself into a hanyuo for him!  
"Lyn!" he cried out before he turned and ran toward InuYasha and Lyn who were now embraced tightly within each others arms; lips locked and talons gripping each other as if they thought the other would blow away if they let go.

* * *

"I love you so much InuYasha," Lyn whispered against his lips as she gently pulled out from their kiss. She could hear his breathing had become heavier and his heart had begun to beat faster as he grew more and more excited. As she trailed kisses along his neck and revealed in the salty sweetness of his skin, she could feel him shudder beneath her and this drew a smile to her lips. Biting him playful, she felt him squeeze her tighter as his talons bit into her skin and the sensation nearly made her moan softly.  
"Lyn, I..." InuYasha breathed roguishly into her ear, but before he could his thought, he felt a pressure against his midsection as Sota squirmed his way in between the intertwined pair.  
"What the f..." he began to say, but stopped as he saw Sota engulf Lyn's legs and abdomen with his arms. Lyn looked down in surprise, but that surprise soon turned to tears as she dropped to her knees and engulfed her younger brother in suffocating, strong grip. InuYasha sighed heavily and walked away from the unfolding family reunion. He would have to wait for now.  
"_Oh Sota_!" Lyn exclaimed as she picked up her little brother and hugged him tighter against her. Tears glistened in the bright orange and red rays of the setting sun as Lyn spun around in circles with Sota still embraced tightly against her bosom. Squeals of delight and exclamations of joy filled the serene atmosphere as Lyn stopped circling and instead began to smother Sota in kisses. His deep blush was visible even in the dying sunlight and this brought a laugh from the monk and slayer, and even brought a small grin to InuYasha's face.

"Her little brother I presume," InuYasha said to Sango as she crossed her arms and leaned against the well. She looked up at the demon at her side and shook her head at the look of impatience on his stoically beautiful face which reminded her so much of his older brother. His eyes though, they were the one thing that betrayed his look; in them burned flames of both passion and compassion alike. Sensing her eyes on him, InuYasha looked down at the slayer and gave her both an inquisitive, yet annoyed look. Sango in turn just smiled and turned her attention back the to reunion before them. It was Sota who now had a hold on Lyn and she giggled as she tried to reach behind her were he was attached firmly and grab hold of him again.  
"Yep..." Sango answered to his earlier question. He nodded and unfolded his arms so he could instead thrust his hands into the pockets of the dark blue, yet washed out pair of jeans he wore.  
"He's cute. He kinda looks like her too," he said as he watched them, a grin breaking the exotic calmness of his face, but a cry of _Sota _ broke the happy moment. As an older woman that looked much like Lyn before her transformation, came out of the house, the grin on his face was wiped away and a look of suspicion and tension filled it instead. He withdrew his hands from his pockets and dropped them to his sides; he was ready for a fight, a fight he was sure was coming. The woman saw InuYasha and then her gaze settled on Lyn who had succeeded in prying Sota from her backside and now had him thrown over her shoulder. Lyn froze as she stared at the woman whose gaze was boring holes into her. Sota, who could not see what was happening, but could sense the change in the air, began to struggle in Lyn's grasp so that he could see what was happening. Taking this as s sign that he was in distress, the woman took another few steps towards Lyn.

"Please don't take him! I've already lost one dear child, please don't take this one," the woman said, a sorrow filling her voice as she walked closer to Lyn. She was a no more than a foot away when the last rays of the sun fell upon an object she was concealing something behind her back. The glint it made was brief, but it was just enough to have caught InuYasha's attention.  
"Lyn, she has a knife!" he called out, but he was too late. Somehow sensing that InuYasha knew what she intended to do, the woman pulled the knife out from her waistband and stabbed Lyn deep in her side. Lyn dropped Sota with a loud thud and a cry of pain and protest as he hit the ground face first. In one motion almost to fast to follow, the woman scooped up the stunned Sota and dragged him inside. The click and thud of a deadbolt and chain resounded in the momentary silence of the yard.

"Lyn!" InuYasha finally cried as came to rest by her side. She was trembling slightly and as one of InuYasha's strong hands rested on her the hand that was clutched around the wound, as well as the hilt of the knife, she looked up at him. Shock, disbelief and pain were etched onto her face and as she felt her knees give way, InuYasha caught her and laid her in his arms. Sango skidded to a stop by her side and placed a tender hand on the handle of the knife. Looking up at InuYasha for reassurance and getting it in the form of a quick nod. Sango gripped the handle tighter as he grasped the hand Lyn had over her wound tightly in his own. She looked up at him and then over at Sango; panic filled her watery eyes, but InuYasha ignored it and pulled her face into his chest were he could feel her tears staining his white button up. Taking a deep breath in, Sango gripped the blade with both hands and pulled. A terrified howl of pain and anger filled the night sky as the blade came out smoothly and in a spurt of scarlet. Lyn dug her talons deep in InuYasha arm, and Sango saw the demon's jaw clench as blossoms of blood appeared under her grip, but he remained quiet and allowed her to continue; the hand that covered her wound was now stained a deep crimson. After a few minutes, her grip relaxed and her breathing evened out; looking up at the both of them, Lyn smiled and sat up slowly, her hand reflexively going to her side as she did.  
"I'm ok you guys, remember those handy hanyuo healing abilities?" she said as she shakily rose to her feet. Removing her hand from her side, she looked down and sighed in relief. It was bad, but not fatal. InuYasha rose swiftly and hugged her tight against him. His own blood smeared hand hidden behind his back. He clenched that fist and growled deeply as she looked in the direction of the house the woman had disappeared into. A delicate hand on his face curbed his anger as he looked down into Lyn's emerald eyes and huffed.  
"She's my mother InuYasha. Let me find a way to deal with her, she said softly and he nodded in understanding, but he did not want to let her go, even as Sango took her and led her towards the lip of the well, his grip was hard to break. He had a foreboding feeling and it sent an uncharacteristic shiver through him that scared him more than not knowing what was to come.

* * *

"Why would she stab you?" Sango said, her tone low and frustrated as she cleaned the last of the blood off of Lyn's side and began to bandage her up. Lyn starred off into the smoldering sky as she silently pondered the same question. Sure, she no longer looked like her old self, but surely her mother of all people would be able to sense that Lyn was her daughter. The thought scared and hurt her.  
"I don't know, but she did say something about already losing a child. Maybe she thought I was taking Sota," Lyn said, mostly talking to herself as she spoke the words. Looking back on what had happened, she supposed she couldn't blame her mom for being suspicious and even a bit frightened for Sota. A strange creature had her son thrown over its shoulder and Sota was struggling. Lyn frowned deeply as she shook her head and sighed. This was going nothing like she had originally planned.  
"Lost a child?" InuYasha's voice said, breaking her within her deep thoughts. He draped an arm around Lyn's milky shoulders and she grabbed hold of his arms, noting only then that there were four small puncture wounds on the outer part of his arm, right below his elbow. She ran her fingers over them and looked up at InuYasha. She saw in a gentleness in his eyes and she knew at once that she had done this, she went to apologize but his lips on hers stopped the words from flowing. A rustling sound from behind the Goshinboku tree broke the intimate moment as InuYasha narrowed his gaze intently on the tree and the relentlessly moving shadows.

"Maybe someone can tell me what this means," Miroku said appearing from behind the tree only to walk right into InuYasha. Looking up at the highly annoyed demon, Miroku could only look more confused as he peered around the towering figure of InuYasha and at the two girls who sat shaking their heads collectively. InuYasha cracked his jaw and walked away from the monk before he strung him up onto the branches of the tree like a living Christmas ornament.  
"Where have you been?" Sango said as she stood up. She hadn't even noticed that he was missing, but now that she knew, she was beyond henpecked with him. She made to walk towards him and deliver to him a scolding of epic proportions, but stopped when she noticed he wasn't paying any type of attention to her. He was instead reading a piece of gray/white crinkled paper he held in his hand. The more he stared at the paper, the more perplexed he seemed to become.  
"What are you reading?" Sango snapped as she snatched the paper out of his hand. He looked up at her and watched as her aggravated expression soon turned into one of pure shock and equal perplexities as she began to read over the paper.  
"What is it Sango?" Lyn asked as she stood up and crossed her arms, trying to protect her bare skin from the phantom chill that now cooled the night air. Sango looked up at everyone and InuYasha noticed that she was nervously chewing on the inside of her cheek.  
"Listen to this," she said hesitantly as she looked back down at the paper she clutched tightly in her hands. Clearing her throat with no purpose but to postpone what she intended to do, she finally began to read some of the what the paper she held read.

"_**… proceedings have begun to legally declare16 year old Lyn Runeris legally dead. The young Japan native has been missing for more than a year and a half after she suddenly disappeared from a friends' home on May 16th, 2010 and hasn't been seen since.**_  
_**Her mother has begged for the proceedings to be postponed, but due to the lack of evidence in the case, the authorities have declared that the documentation of her death will proceed as planned. The police originally had a slight lead in this case; two hairs and a pool of blood that was found at the friends house after Lyn was reported missing by her family. The hairs found were said to be belonging to a friend of the young girls, Miroku Miasma. Sources said that the blood pool had a genetic makeup of both dog and human DNA. Do to the acute improbability that the blood sources came from the same being, the evidence was sealed away and dismissed as irrelevant to the case.**_

_**Many religious groups fear though that this may be the prophesied demon awakening.**_

_**Is this true, or is it just another random kidnapping in this small town? Among the other missing and to be presumed dead is the main suspect Miroku **__**Miasma**_, as well as one of Lyn's closest friends, Sango Ginorkius. Another missing teen is the young Kagome Higorashi who had no known connection with the other missing teens.

_**Are these connected? Are they alive even know they are now to be proclaimed dead? We may never know.**_.."

"It goes on to talk about other things, but Lyn, we're dead!" Sango said nearly breathless as she looked up from the paper with wide eyes. Miroku looked even more confused now as he ran his fingers through his long hazel hair and then huffed as he crossed his arms and leaned against the great trees trunk, lost deep in thought.  
"No way. But we can't…." Lyn said looking quite bewildered.  
"But how can we be dead if were right here?" Miroku said as he grabbed his shirt and looked down it as if to double check.  
"Yeah, I'm still here," he said shrugging. Sango shot him a hot, angry glare and he immediately put his hands in his pockets and shuffled over to her side, head down and mouth closed tight.  
"We're legally dead, which means our families and our friends believe us to be dead as stone!" Lyn said as she leaned heavily against InuYasha and rubbed her temples. A headache had crept in and had nested the side of her head were it throbbed relentlessly. She opened her heavy eyes and settled deeper into InuYasha's solid frame; his warmth and calm persona seeped into her, calming her pounding head.  
"Well, at least we know whose blood it is," InuYasha said as he glared at Miroku and Sango. Sango looked away from his gaze and back down at the paper, pretending to read it over again. A deep blush of guilt colored her cheeks as she thought back on how rash she had been in attacking InuYasha. She should have recognized the mark and perhaps she should have tried to shake or awaken Lyn before rushing headfirst into trying to kill him.

"I said I was sorry for that!" Miroku said as he threw up his hands in a defensive gesture. InuYasha just rolled his eyes and wrapped an arm around Lyn's waist as she struggled to stifle the giggle that was building up in her throat. Although what they had done wasn't exactly funny, how they acted when he brought it up always made her want to burst out laughing.  
"Well, I guess we can camp out here for the night," Sango said as she sat down on one of her suitcases. Miroku walked up behind her and began to massage her shoulders. He saw how tense she was and how much that article had gotten to her, so he began to knead out the tension. She sighed softly as she relaxed under his touch. He smiled as he gently massaged the knots in her shoulders and revealed in how smooth her skin was. This was equally as enjoyable for him as it was for her due to the fact that it was way for him to touch her without getting swatted, smacked, or punched.  
"I don't think so Sango," InuYasha said looking toward the street as his eyes squinted in a angry glare. Sango opened her eyes slightly and looked at the tense pair before her. Sometimes she hated her human senses, but she didn't think she would give up being human for a change in them, though she did wonder if the sense of touch also grew more intense. This thought stirred disturbing images of InuYasha and Lyn and Sango shuddered as she quickly wiped them from her mind.  
"Is that what I think it is"? Lyn said as her ears twitched and turned in the direction of the street to their left. She could feel his grasp on her tighten and she knew that what she had heard was coming right for them.  
"Yeah. Your bitch of a mom called the cops on us," he said as he turned towards Sango and Miroku who were looking at them for both news and direction.

"Don't call her a bitch InuYasha," Lyn said threateningly. He focused his gaze down at her and the look in her eyes demanded an immediate apology; he obediently looked down at his feet and nodded.  
"What do we do now you guys?" Miroku said as he grabbed Sango's hand and lifted her up off of her seat. He held her hand tightly and protectively; Sango looked over at him and saw worry reflected in his eyes that was now mirrored in her own.  
"We need to go get back to Matt," Lyn said as she walked over to the well. She knew that it was a long shot to try and get back to Matt. Kaede had warned them that the well would most likely close up after their final departure, but Lyn wasn't so sure now that she gazed down at the dark bottom. She could feel it pulsating and drawing her in, as if it knew that they needed it to work this one last time.  
"Why Matt?" InuYasha said, looking at her, puzzled. He had heard what the old miko had said, but as he looked at the hanyuo girl before him, he could see that she knew something that they didn't.  
"He's got his own pad in this time. We could crash there 'till the heats off," she said before she crouched and jumped into the well. On cue, everyone gathered around the well as a familiar soft bluish-white lit up the dark night. Looking at each other in amazement and solid resolve, they all nodded at one another as the light faded and all was dark once again.  
"Well, I guess we follow them in then," Sango said as InuYasha jumped in, followed by her and finally by Miroku who gave the deeply shaded world one more look before he too threw himself in.

* * *

"Wow, it's so quite here now that InuYasha and the gang are gone," Matt said as he stood on his balcony over looking the well. It had been nearly 2 months on this side of the well though he knew only a few hours had passed on the other side. He turned his head as he heard Kagome walk through the sheer netting that separated their sleeping quarters from the balcony.  
"I kinda miss the hustle and bustle of Japan though," she said as she hugged onto Matt so that she could watch the sunset with him. He leaned his head back and met her lips with his own as the sunset cast a brilliant burning backdrop on them.  
"Yeah... but this is my home, I guess," he said solemnly. He was about to turn and walk back into the house but stopped dead in his tracks as he Lyn come bounding out the well. She looked up and waved at them to come down. Kagome stared wide eyed down at the girl as Matt walked up next to her.  
"Is that Lyn? How did she get back? I thought the well was supposed to seal up," Kagome asked as she continued to look down at her, seemingly unable to move from the spot she was in.  
"I don't know, but here comes InuYasha..." Matt said as the young demon came gracefully from the bowls of the well and stood next to Lyn. Matt griped the edges of the balconies stone wall railing, but in his excitement he leaned over a little to much and found himself tumbling over the ledge headfirst. He closed his eyes and prepared for the skull shattering impact, but instead landed in the strong, solid arms of InuYasha. Opening his eyes, he could see he was no more than 2 feet from the ground. Breathing a sigh of relief, he looked up and over his shoulder at the smirking youkia who held him.  
"Long time no see," he said, his voice low but it none the less was filled with the same old mischief it always had. Matt just smiled and shook his head; it was good to have them back.

* * *

"So you're telling me you came back here to tell us that you need me to come back with you so that you can use my old pad so you have somewhere to stay even though everyone thinks your dead because, apparently, Miroku's killed you?" Matt said as he tried to understand what Lyn was telling him. His brain and skull were pounding and it felt as if his eyes would start to bleed any minute. Gentle fingers beginning to massage his scalp and temples nearly clouded over everything Lyn had just told him. Kagome had magic fingers as the pounding in his nearly ceased as she gently probed his scalp.  
"Yeah, do you think your up to it?" Lyn said, her voice bringing him out of his near trance like state. He opened his eyes and say a gentle pleadingly playing all over Lyn's face, it even saturated her jade eyes. He sighed and leaned into Kagome's lap as she draped her slender arms over his shoulders.  
"Well you guys, I don't know," he finally said, but as he wound his rough, calloused fingers through his wife's smooth and gentle ones, he remembered what she had said to him earlier as they stood on the balcony over looking the sunset. He grabbed her hands and nodded to himself.  
"You know what? Why the hell not! It's kinda boring here anyway," he said as he looked up at the shocked Kagome, but the look in his eyes told her she knew what he was doing and in her heart she knew he was doing it for her, though it wasn't entirely for her. She knew he missed the city and all of his friends just as much as she did, perhaps even more. She smiled down at him and squeezed his hands as he reached up, pulled her head down and kissed her deeply. A blush the color of cherry blossoms colored Kagome's fair complexion as they finally broke their kiss and Lyn giggled.

"Well, what are we waiting for then? It's sleep over time!" Miroku said as he jumped up, rubbing his hands together in anticipation and excitement. Everyone looked at him and shook their heads in unison as they went to go help Matt and Kagome pack. Miroku rolled his eyes and followed begrudgingly behind everyone.


End file.
